Brother for Christmas
by Animation Universe 2005
Summary: There is one thing that Max wants the most for Christmas...and that would be a little brother. Would he get his chance? Read it and find oout! A holiday present for my friends...including Joe 'Po' Navark. Hope ya'll like! And Merry Christmas!
1. Max's Christmas Wish

I'm back! With another KFP Christmas fic! This one...it's focused on Max. This came to my head over the summer and I wonder what if Max had a little brother of his own for Christmas? This is for Joe 'Po' Navark and I hope you all like this! Consider this as an early Christmas present from me to you.

* * *

Brother for Christmas

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Max's Christmas Wish

It was a snowy afternoon at the Valley of Peace, where everytone is getting themselves rwady for the holidays, the special time where people spend it with their families and friends, give good cheer and also prepping up for that special holiday. In one of those village homes, a certain 8 year old white tiger cub looks up at the window and sees the snow fall, but also thinking about what he's missing in his life.

He takes a deep sigh and blinks his eyes a few times until his window started to turn a little foggy, and then proceeded to make zig-zag lines around the window and tapping his fingers a little bit.

Just then, Cody walks past his room and he sees Max stranding there at the window, feeling a little bored, but somewhat down and he walks into his room and he said, "Hey, Max."

"Hey, Cody." Max replied.

Cody went behind Max and he could see the bored expression on his face, but maybe there was something else he was feeling that he doesn't even know yet and he wanted to find out what it was, so Cody told him, "What's going on in your world?"

Max didn't take a look at Cody for a minute, not even a quick glance at him and Max responded, "Bored."

"Come on, little guy. Talk to me." Cody said.

Max then turns around and faces Cody for a minute and the two shared a couple of silent glares with each other and as they're staring at each other, Max then said, "I feel like...you know that empty feeling you get inside of your tummy?"

"Um...like when you're not eating?" asked Cody.

Max nodded his head in response to that and he told him, "No, I mean...like something isn't there. It's like you have everything you want, but there's something that's maybe not there."

Cody wasn't quite sure what Max meant by that and he then asked him, "What do you mean?"

"Well...it kinda stinks being the youngest. When you're little, you're nothing." Max replied.

Cody quickly sorta got what Max was saying about him being the youngest of all 33 kids and he lets out a slight chuckle and said, "That's all?"

"Yeah." Max replied.

Cody puts his hand on Max's shoulder and said, "Sometimes, when you're the youngest, you feel like you're being treated like a baby."

"But I'm not a baby. I'm only 8 and a half years old." Max stated.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Cody stated.

Max sorta felt like Cody wasn't understanding in his position well and he told him, "That's the problem...I'm a big kid. I should do a lot of things big kids should be doing."

Cody could see Max's point a little bit that he was kinda sick of being the baby of a house full of 33 older brothers and sisters and that he's over being treated like one and he told him, "Max...you'll have your chance soon enough. When you're older, you can do all of those things...but until then, you have to be patient."

Max lets out a deep sigh for a second and he said, "Okay."

Cody then puts Max in a headlock and gave him a noogie and told him, "Love you, you little knucklehead."

Max lets out a little laugh at this and he said, "You too, jerkface."

After this, Cody comes towards the dining room and sees Logan and Sage going at each other after an argument over who won an arm wrestling and he could tell that this is not gonna go well and he goes inside the room and sees Sage on the brink of losing it and Cody stops this immediately and said, "What the heck's going on here?!"

"Sage was cheating!" Logan shouted, pointing at him.

The white wolfdog growled at him in response to that and he said, "Was not! I should have won that match, fair and square!"

Logan glares at him and said, "That's not how the game works, Sage. I should be the one to put your arm on the other side."

"That does not compute!" Sage shouted.

Cody placed his paw over both of their mouths and he asked, "Every single day, it's the same thing. You guys argue over everything and this is really getting ridiculous. Plus, does it really matter who won?"

"Yes!" they both shouted.

Just then, Mako comes back home along with Arizona coming in the house as well and Mako looks over at Arizona, who's wearing a grey scarf over his neck and a brown snow hat on his head and he said, "Big day at the orphanage, huh?"

"Pretty big. But I'm glad you stepped in to assist in volunteering, Arizona." Mako said.

Arizona chuckled softly at this and he said, "Anything that involves kids, I'm in."

"Hey, dad. Arizona." Cody said.

Mako looks over at Cody and he replied, "Hey, son."

Arizona walks over to Cody and gives him a solid fist-bump and he asked, "How's everything here?"

"Ugh, just trying to diffuse an argument between Logan and Sage." Cody said, in exaspertion.

Arizona groans in response after hearing this because he knew that these two wolves were at each other's throats from the minute Sage was a new member in this house and asked, "Again? What's it for this time?"

"They're arguing over who won the arm wrestling match." Cody replied.

Arizona looks over at Sage and Logan and he walks to both of them and asked, "All right, who won?"

"I won." Logan replied, with a smirk on his face.

Sage lets out a growl and he plans to put his fist above Logan's mouth and said, "Cheater."

"You just can't accept the fact that I won, loser!" Logan said, taunting him.

"Shut up!" Sage shouted.

Mako was definitely not up for this whole dog-fight in the house and he said, "Okay, boys...enough of this already. Besides, it's the holidays. Shouldn't you learn how to get along with each other?"

"I can try, but Sage's too difficult to get along with." Logan answered.

"If you were from South China, I would've ripped your face off if you stepped into my turf!" Sage growled.

Arizona clears his throat as he looks up at Sage and he said, "But we're not in Southern China. We're in the Valley of Peace. You just have to get used to it here."

Sage made a huge sigh and he said, "Fine."

Arizona then nods his head and he said to Mako, "I gotta head back to the palace. Shifu's probably waiting for me to decorate the entire Jade Palace for the holidays."

"All righty. Hey, will you come back tomorrow. Because there are some kids that don't have a home or a family to call their own for the holidays." Mako asked.

Arizona smiled at this and said, "Sure thing. Tell Max I said 'hi', okay?"

"Will do."

As soon as Arizona left the house, Mako decided to go over to his room to do some meditating after a long day at work...while a certain white tiger overheard everything in the room and that's when it hit him...something that he was thinking of having for Christmas.

"A little brother..." Max whispered.

* * *

And that is the start of the story. Stick around for more Holiday awesomeness! Tell me what you guys think! Also...how'd I do?


	2. Big Brother Responsibilities

If Max is gonna learn how to be a big brother, he has to learn about some basic responsibilities and what it takes to be a big brother. Luckily, he's got a few of his big bros to help out.

* * *

Chapter 2: Big Brother Responsibilities

A few hours later, Max was going around the house to explain what he wants for Christmas and to also tell someone about what he's been wanting for a long time...having a little brother. He goes around to find his dad to ask him a few questions, which caught the attention of his brother, Phoenix.

"Hey, Maxie. Whatcha doing, man?" asked Phoenix.

Max looks up at Phoenix and hewaves at him and said, "Where's dad?"

"He's going out with Reiko. You know, I had always thought that these two would belong together. Maybe it's the noodle soup talking, but I think these two are meant to be." Phoenix answered.

Max lowered his ears in disappointment after that and he said, "There was something I wanted to talk to him about."

"Well, you can talk to me." Phoenix said.

Max wasn't quite sure if he wanted to open up to Phoenix about what was on his mind, but knowing that he gets along with him the most, he would be more than willing to share the beans with him and he lets out a deep sigh and said, "Okay."

Phoenix then takes Max over to his room and they sat down on his bed and he said, "Spill your guts, Maxie."

Max stared at him in a confused look and Phoenix explained, "It means tell me what's up."

"Oh, okay. Um...I already know what I want for christmas." Max replied.

"Really? What is it?" asked Phoenix.

Max motioned Phoenix to whisper through his ear and when Phoenix did, Max whispered out, "I want a little brother for Christmas."

Soon enough, Phoenix's reaction was a bit surprising to hear what Max wanted for Christmas and he never expected someone like Max to take on that task and in a surprised tone, he asked, "You do?"

"Yeah. I heard my dad say to Cody that there are a lot of kids that don't have a home at the orphanage and I sorta thought that maybe I could have a little brother of my own." Max said.

"You sure you're up for this? I mean, being a big brother is a lot of responsibility." Phoenix asked.

"Yeah. I'm sick of always being the baby in the house and maybe if I have a little brother, I wouldn't feel that way anymore." Max said.

Phoenix could see that Max became very serious about this and just then, Logan, Samurai and Cody overheard what was going on and Samurai asked, "Did I hear that Max wants to be a big brother?"

"Yeah, he said he wanted to have a little brother of his own." Phoenix replied.

Logan seemed very optimistic about Max's choice and he said, "If you wanna learn how to be a big brother, here are some basics; first off, pick on his size and then...if you have to, make sure they realize you're the boss. Above all, do not go for the whole mushy-gushy stuff. Give them wet willies, noogies and give them a flick on the tail. That's hilarious."

Cody clears his throat at Logan's suggestions on how Max should be a big brother and he said, "Logan...we're not giving him that kind of lesson on how to be a big brother."

"Well, it worked for me." Logan stated.

Samurai clicks his tongue and said, "We need to be an example to Max, not to learn how to be a big jerk."

Logan scoffed at this assumption and he said, "Well, excuse me for not giving Max enough good proper big brother etiquette."

Cody looks up at Max for a second and said, "Ignore whatever Logan said and we'll give you the basic examples of how to be a good big brother."

Max blinked his eyes on that one as Phoenix, Cody and Samurai give Max a few lessons on how to be the best big brother ever and as he's learning, he's willing to give it a shot because Max is growing a little older and have to someday learn about responsibility around the house soon enough.

Hours later, Mako returned home from another date with Reiko and Mako said to her, "That was an excellent play."

Reiko smiled at him and said, "Yes, it was. You know, I never thought you would be this good a date."

"Well...I don't think I've ever dated someone who knows what it's like to care for kids, not to mention be a single parent." Mako said.

"Yeah." Reiko said.

Both pandas gazed into each other's eyes and Reiko placed her paw around Mako's cheek and she said, "Mako...thank you."

"For what?" asked Mako.

"Everything. My kids adore you a lot and I love your kids...but not as much as I love you." Reiko said.

Almost immediately, Mako and Reiko came closer together and both lips touched other as they gave each other a kiss on the lips, which lasted for a full 3 minutes.

"Ooooh!"

The kiss was then broken off due to three kids looking at the window and Mako lets out a chuckle and opens up the door and sees Logan, Tae Kwan Do, Max and Phoenix standing by the window and he said, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Hello, boys." Reiko said, waving at them.

"Hi, Miss Reiko." they all replied, in unison.

Reiko lets out a slight giggle and she said to Mako, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"All right. Good night." Mako added.

"Good night." Reiko said, as she left the house and blew him a kiss.

Mako went inside the house and Logan immediately asked, "So...are you and Reiko gonna...?"

Mako immediately knew what Logan was gonna say and he cut him off immediately and said, "I'll tell you that when Max is not around. Now go to bed."

Tae Kwan Do and Logan were heading to their bedroom for some sleep, but not before making kissing noises as they went their way and Phoenix said to Mako, "Hey, dad...Max told me that he wants a little brother of his own for Christmas."

Hearing this made Mako very surprised to hear that Max is willing to have a little brother of his own and he turned to him and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I've been around big brothers a lot and I think I want to become one too." Max added.

"You know it's a lot of responsibility to be a big brother...but I believe that you'll take this on." Mako said, rubbing his head.

"So...can I?" asked Max.

Mako then smiled at him and said, "How about you come to Bao Gu Orphanage with me and Cody tomorrow and we'll let you pick the best one?"

"Okay." Max nodded.

"All right. Get to bed." Mako said, before hugging Max.

After this, Max went to his room to head off to bed and as he laid down on his bed, he was definitely excited about getting that chance on being a big brother and he said, "I cannot wait until tomorrow."

* * *

Come next chapter, it will be held at the Orphanage! Will Max find what he's looking for? You gotta stick around and find out!


	3. Heading to the Orphanage

This is it...the day that Max gets to find a little brother to adopt.

* * *

Chapter 3: Heading to the Orphanage

By the next day, Max was really anticipating that he's gonna actually go to the orphanage and find which one to choose as his little brother. He was starting to feel like he's inching closer to his wish and that he was gonna need this really well. He hopes that he'll be a good big brother to them and teach them anything they want and also not to feel like he's the youngest anymore.

"Hey, Max. You ready?" asked Cody, as he poppe his head in the door.

Max looks up at Cody with a smile and said, "Uh-huh."

Cody felt definitely excited for Max and that enthusiasm on his face was good enough for him to get his answer in him and he said, "Better bundle up. It's a little cold outside."

"Okay."

Several mnutes later, Mako, Cody and Max are making their way to the Bao Gu Orphanage and on the way there, Max is experiencing some nervousness inside of him because he's never been a big brother before and he hopes to find the right person to have and Cody looks down on the white tiger cub and he could see that he's a little anxious about this and he pats him on the back and said, "You okay?"

"I...I think so." Max replied.

"Are you a little nervous?" asked Mako.

Max slowly nodded his head in response to that and Mako immediately understood what he had meant by that and he decided to give Max some comfort and advice to help ease them down a bit. He told him, "Sometimes, picking the right person is a little difficult to take in and at times you feel like you want to take in all of them, but they might have some families too. So...just choose what's in your heart instead of what's in your head. It always helps me."

Max seemed to understand what his adopted father just said and he's hoping that he'll remember what he just said to him and hopes to use it well and he lets out a deep breath and said, "Okay."

"Attaboy." Mako said, rubbing his head.

By the time they already got to the orphanage, they could see a handful of kids all around the orphanage and many volunteers to make their day special due to the holidays and such and when most of the orphans saw Max, they greeted him in random order...something that made the cub a little bit confused.

"Wow...you've been popular since you were adopted." Cody said, chuckling.

Max wasn't quite sure where to accept it or be a little freaked out about it and as the three made their way inside, they saw Mrs. Faye coming in to greet them and when she saw Max, she could hardly believe that it was him because he wasn't that tall when he last came in here.

"Is that you, Max? You've grown, haven't you?" asked Mrs. Faye, looking at him.

Max lets out a smile and he said, "Yes, ma'am."

She then gives him a hug and Max gladly accepts the hug and she looks at him and asked, "What brings you back here?"

"To find a little brother of my own." Max replied.

Mrs. Faye was most definitely shocked to hear this coming out of Max and she could not believe that Max is gonna take on the task of being a big brother and she said, "You really have grown up a little bit."

Cody chuckled softly in response and he said, "Still growing, but he's still got a few size problems to work out."

Suddenly, in comes Arizona that just walked by in the front of the orphanage and he was most definitely surprised to see Max there and he said, "Maxie!"

"Hey, Arizona!" Max said, coming over to give him a high-five and a hug.

"What are you doing here, buddy?" asked Arizona, smiling.

Max broke off the hug for a second and he replied, "To see if I can have a little brother of my own."

Hearing this took Arizona by surprise because he didn't expect that to happen and that made him really proud to hear that he's gonna have a little brother of his own and he said, "All right, Max."

Max could tell that Arizona's proud of him for taking on that role, even though he still sees him as a little cub but he knows that he's growing up a little bit and Mako said, "We're all proud of him, Arizona. He said he wants some for Christmas."

"Maybe we can help you out with that, Max." Cody added.

Max was definitely looking forward to this and he said, "I'm ready."

* * *

Will he find that one little brother he wants? Stay tuned and find out!


	4. Who to Find

The search for a little brother begins!

* * *

Chapter 4: Who to Find

After this, Cody and Max went indoors towards the orphanage to see which ones that Max would want to have as a little brother and to their surprise...tons of kids, most of them from differemt ages and species were all over the place, simply just playing around and things like that. For Max, it would turn into a humongous challenge for him and that nervous feeling just brought back up again.

"Wow...that's a lot of kids." Cody said, wide-eyed.

Max was pretty much well aware of how many kids are there and for him to choose which ones he would want most is pretty hard. He lets out a big sigh and looks around to see who's interesting. Mounds of ducks, geese, rabbits, sheep and other species were a little unsure about Max coming in, but they saw his nervous face in front of them and one of them asked, "What are you looking for?"

Max turns around and sees this little bunny right behind him and he replied, "I'm trying to find a little brother of my own."

That widened the bunny's eyes to hear that and he then asked, "You are?"

"Yeah." Max replied, in a hesitant voice.

Cody comes up behind him and said, "This is Max's first time choosing whom he wants to have a little brother."

"Ohh...have you been here before?" asked the rabbit.

"Uh-huh."

Before long, some others came towards Max and wanted to have their shot on being a new big brother and for Max, it was almost overwhelming to decide who he likes more. Frustrating, even. Cody could sense Max's growing sense of frustration to choose which one he wants to have a little brother and with that, Cody brings him over to the hallway to get away from it all.

Max sits down on the ground, with his back against the wall and he said, "No one told me that this was gonna be hard."

Cody sat down next to him and he turns to Max and said, "Sometimes, finding the right person to take in is a challenge. Same thing happens to dad when he adopts someone new and takes them in."

Max blinked his eyes twice and placed his paws over his head and he looks up at Cody and said, "Maybe I'm not meant to be a big brother after all."

"Hey, don't say that. You'll find that person. Besides, you never know." Cody said, giving him comfort and support.

Just then, Max heard someone's footsteps running towards the hallway and slammed the door and he was on alert on who it could be. Cody looks around and asked, "What was that?"

"I don't know. But I'm gonna go check it out." Max replied.

Max gets himself up and proceeds to walk around the hallway to see what's going on and he figured that he might use his tiger instincts, but not just yet. Pretty soon, a few kids were running out of the hallway and Max wanted to know what was going on, but just focused on who made those footsteps and where it came from.

"Max...be careful." Cody said.

Seconds later, he heard some noises like someone was crying on the other side of the door and Max wanted to get a closer look into it and he slowly opens the door and as he went in, he saw a small snow leopard curled up in a corner...just on the back, not showing himself to him. Max's suspicion grew to concern in a split second and he cleared his throat and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Go away."

Max blinked his eyes twice and he could tell that this cub was definitely lonely and he said, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Just leave me alone."

This was gonna be harder than he thought, but he's willing to stick it out for the best no matter what and he definitely saw himself in that same position and he was still standing there.

"Why aren't you running away from me?"

Max seemed confused by that remark and he asked, "Should I?"

Soon enough, the young snow leopard cub turns around and faces himself; deep orange eyes and wearing only holey ripped pants and he asked, "Everyone else is afraid of me."

"Why?" asked Max.

The young snow leopard took a deep sigh and he sadly replied, "I don't know. But they call me a freak."

That really broke Max's heart after hearing something like that and he reminds himself in that position the first time he was at the orphanage a few years ago, like everyone takes advantage of him for all the wrong reasons or for no reason at all. Max then asked, "How long have you been here?"

"When I was a baby cub. I'm only six years old." the snow leopard replied.

Max blinked his eyes and he said to him, "I'm not afraid of you."

That took the young leopard cub by surprise and it's like he'd always hoped for someone to come along to say 'I'm not afraid of you' and he walked up towards Max and he stuck out his paw and said, "I'm Isaiah Xiu."

Max immediately accepts the handshake with no hesitation and he said, "I'm Maximus Bushido-Akio...but everyone calls me Max."

Isaiah nods his head in understanding and he said, "What brings you by the orphanage?"

"I was actually looking around to find a little brother of my own for Christmas." Max replied.

"You're lucky. I wish I had a family. They left me behind after I was born." Isaiah added.

Max definitely knew what that feeling felt like because he can relate to that so easily and he nods his head and said, "I know how you feel. My birth mom left me behind when I was five."

'Looks like we have a few things in common.' Isaiah thought.

Just then, out of nowhere...a brown lion cub comes out of nowhere and pins Max down to the ground, with the fiercest look ever made and he asked, "Who are you and what are you doing to my friend?!"

Isaiah came towards him and had to reason with him, but the lion cub didn't wanna hear it and he looks up at Max and asked, "Who are you?!"

"Max."

The cub pulls out a claw and comes at Max's neck and asked, "Friend or foe?!"

Isaiah yanks the lion cub's tail and he said, "Bakari...don't. He's a friend."

Max looks up at Bakari and he said, "Very good friend."

Once Max told him the truth, Bakari then gets off of Max and he looked up at him while Max was getting up and he said, "I'm sorry. I just thought that you were one of those bullies."

Max glared at Bakari for a second and he asked, "Me, a bully? I would never be one."

Isaiah clears his throat and he said, "Max, this is Bakari. He's my best friend."

Bakari walked in front of Max and he immediately felt bad about pinning him down out of nowhere and he said, "Forgive me for pinning you down. Lion instincts, I guess."

Max could understand what he meant by that and he said, "It's okay."

Just then, they heard some commotion coming from the hallway and wanted to find out what the deal is and somehow...they saw a young white wolfdog cub fighting all the other kids and Max kept looking and asked, "Who's he?"

"That's Duke. He always picks a fight with anyone." Isaiah replied.

Max didn't like where this fight's gonna go and he asked, "Shouldn't anyone stop him?"

Bakari quickly nods his head imply no and he told Max, "If you get in the middle of it or try to stop it, he'll fight you."

Duke kept fighting this little bunny rabbit and most of the other kids were egging him on and Max couldn't handle seeing this anymore, so he quickly went into tiger mode and stopped the fight by shielding the bunny out of the way. Duke lets out a growl and he told Max, "Move, tiger."

"Leave the bunny alone." Max said, in a serious tone.

"What is going on here?"

All of a sudden, they see Ms. Faye along with Mako, Arizona and Cody coming in to see what was going on and Ms. Faye saw Duke standing in front of Max and she asked, "Are you fighting again?"

"Yeah, so what?" asked Duke.

Ms. Fay didn't like that tone one bit and she said, "Don't give me any of your attitude!"

Arizona looks up at Max and he asked, "You all right?"

"Uh-huh. I heard him fighting this rabbit and I wanted to stop it before he gets hurt." Max answered.

Duke mocked Max's voice and he said, "And I would've beaten him down if you hadn't have stopped me!"

"That's enough! As of this point, no dinner for you!" Ms. Faye shouted.

Duke barked off at her as he stormed off on the way into his room and slammed the door and then, she looked up at Max and she said, "It's a good thing you stopped the fight the way you did, Max."

The little bunny looked up at Max and he said, "Thank you."

Arizona then took notice of Isaiah and Bakari standing in between Max and he had a feeling that these might be the brothers he's looking for and he asked Max, "Did you find any brothers?"

Max looks up at Arizona and he replied, "I think I did. Both Bakari and Isaiah."

Mako then lets out a smile and he felt really proud of Max of finding them on his own and he said, "I guess those are the ones you wanted."

Ms. Faye overheard this and she felt like it was time to let Mako know a little more about them and he said, "Mako, I wanna talk to you for a minute."

Mako nodded his head and accepted that request and he turned to Max and said, "Hey, Max...why don't you play with Bakari and Isaiah for a minute?"

"Okay." Max said.

Arizona chuckled softly and turns to the three and asked, "How good are you guys at kung-fu?"

* * *

Now that you've met the three orphans, Mako's hitched up a little plan. Wanna know? Stick around!


	5. Surprise Christmas Plan

Mako wants info on those three and he comes with a surprising Christmas scheme.

* * *

Chapter 5: Surprise Christmas Plan

Mako came inside Ms. Faye's room and to his surprise, he saw Reiko coming out of the room and both of them laid eyes at each other and Reiko said, "Hi, Mako."

"Hello, Reiko." Mako said, as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"So...are you coming to the Winter Noodle Feast?" asked Reiko.

Mako smiled at this and he replied, "I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world. Me and my kids will be there."

Reiko smiled back at him and she told him, "Perfect. Me and my kids are looking forward to it as well. See you then."

"You too."

Reiko walks out of the room and Mako then sat down right in front of Ms. Faye and while she sat down, she looked at him and asked, "You and Reiko seem to get along really well."

Mako nods his head in agreement and he said, "I can't tell you the countless times that we've loved each other every single day. I think I wanna take this to the next level and hopefully, blend our family together."

Ms. Faye couldn't help but feel happy for the two, but she knew she had other certain matters to attend to at the moment and she said, "While we're on the subject of families...I'd like to discuss about the three orphans you saw earlier."

"All right." Mako replied.

Ms. Faye pulled out a picture of Isaiah and a few files about him that were completely eye-opening to him and she said, "Isaiah has been at this orphanage when he was born and he was left behind by his parents after he was born. Sadly, his parents were in a volatile relationship with each other and having Isaiah was the result of that and they felt like they don't wanna be parents, so they abandoned him."

Haering this made Mako feel sorry for the child and a little bit outraged on the inside that his parents would do that to an innocent cub based on their personal issues. He looks up at that picture of Isaiah and really hoped that he could have a home.

"Every year, Isaiah would look up and see every child get adopted and especially on this time of year, he always felt like that would never happen because no one would want him." Ms. Faye answered.

"That's really sad." Mako said.

Ms. Faye nodded in agreement and then pulls out another picture of a different child, which is Bakari and Mako asked, "How old is Isaiah?"

"He's six...almost six and a half."

That was pretty much shocking to Mako to know that Isaiah had spent his first six years in the orphanage and wasn't adopted yet and before he could even ask, Ms. Faye then gave Mako a picture of Bakari and when he looked at it, he was intrigued by it and he said, "This is brown lion cub earlier today, right?"

"Yes. His name is Tau Bakari. He's a five year old lion cub and he's originally from Africa, but got left behind by his mother when her husband tried to kill her. Someone had took him out of Africa and into China a few years earlier and ended up here." Ms. Faye replied.

Mako blinked his eyes twice and he lets out a heavy sigh and said, "That's something."

And yet another picture comes forward and of course, it was Duke. Mako released a deep exhale and said, "That's the troublemaker."

"Yep. Duke Kao. He's been a troublemaker and somewhat of a hot-tempered cub at the orphanage. I've had to put up with him for several years now and even when he tries to get adopted, the parents would reject him because of his behavior." Ms. Faye explained.

Mako nodded his head at this and he asked, "Is there a few things about him that I should know?"

"He may seem like a tough guy, but he's been suffering a lot. He witnessed both his mom and dad burned in flames when a house was burned down when he was two." Ms. Faye replied.

Mako covered his mouth in shock after that and he immediately figured that maybe that simple act of aggression was just a way to gain attention or to hide his hurt feelings and he said, "I can't imagine what he's going through."

"You know, Duke has dealt with a lot of things, but no one would even want him." Ms. Faye said.

Mako scratched the back of his neck and looking at all three of them, he knows that these boys want a home with a loving family and that their chances were very slim...but then, he had a little thought in his head.

"What if I adopt all three of them?" asked Mako.

Ms. Faye was a little surprised to hear this come out of Mako and she asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course. I can feel it in my gut that these boys need a home...and Max needs to be a big brother. So...what I'll do is that they'll be in my house for the majority of the holiday season and when Christmas rolls along, Max will have his christmas wish." Mako added.

Ms. Faye was silent after hearing what his plan was to keep the boys in house days before Christmas and then on Christmas day, he'll have them as his brothers forever and it took some time to let it sink in and she was on board with it. She then asked, "Would you sign the adoption papers on Christmas Eve?"

Mako could tell that she liked the plan and he said, "Absolutely."

* * *

What do you guys think of that plan? We got more coming your way!


	6. Orphan Buddies

Of course, the orphans are gonna be in Mako's place for the holidays and this is gonna be a test to see if Max can be a good big brother to them...even though they're not adopted yet.

* * *

Chapter 6: Orphan Buddies

That afternoon, Max was playing hide and seek with Bakari, Arizona and Isaiah and Max was the seeker as the others were in hiding and Max kept his eyes and ears open in case they could hear them and while he was walking around, he heard someone snicker and he immediately leaped up the picnic table, walks up and when he looks down, he sees a grey tail sticking out.

Max immediately knew that it belonged to Arizona and he got down on the ground and said, "Gotcha!"

Arizona looks at Max and was surprised that he found him so quickly and said, "Aw, Max! You found me!"

Arizona then comes out from under the table and gave Max a little noogie and both set out to find Isaiah and Bakari and Arizona decided to seek one of them while Max seeks the other and Arizona started off first by walking past the tree to and he saw a few leaves floating down gently to the ground and he knew that someone's hiding under one of the branches.

Arizona lets out a little smirk to find who could it be and he climbed up on the tree and in one of the branches, he sees Bakari sitting there and he said, "Got ya!"

Bakari was surprised that Arizona found him that quickly and the brown lion cub hopped out of there as Arizona climbs down to chase him down and he said, "I'm gonna get ya!"

Meanwhile, Max finds Isaiah hiding under the bushes and the young snow leopard was surprised that he found him so quickly and said, "You caught me!"

Isaiah then pounces out and he turns to Max with a smile, saying, "Try and catch me if you can."

All four of them were running around, just having fun with each other and for Max, it was definitely a feeling that he hopes to have when he actually has a little brother. Several minutes pass by and Mako comes in and sees that Max is having fun with Bakari and Isaiah and he definitely had a feeling that he had found what he was looking for.

He then comes up to Max and he said, "Hey, Max. It's time for us to go."

"Aww..." all four exclaimed.

Bakari looks up at Mako for a second and he asked, "Does he really have to go?"

"Yes. But don't worry, you and Isaiah will come by our house to play with him...all through Christmas." Mako stated.

That definitely brought excitement to Max, Isaiah and Bakari's eyes and they were most definitely looking forward to seeing Max again and Max said, "All right!"

"That's awesome!" Bakari replied.

"We can't wait!" Isaiah exclaimed.

Arizona then gets up for a second and he tells them, "Yeah, I gotta head back to the Jade Palace. They're prepping up some sort of Christmas Ball."

Cody looks up at Arizona for that and he said, "Christmas Ball?"

"Shifu said that it's some sort of tradition they do with some kung-fu masters to celebrate the holidays and they have this dinner and a dance to go with it. Sorta like a Winter Feast, but ten times the elegance." Arizona replied, as he puts on his scarf, gloves and snow hat on.

"Sounds like something my dad should do to go on his date." Max said, smiling.

Mako chuckled nervously in response to that and he clears his throat and said, "Max, I don't think for this kind of gathering that Master Shifu would want couples to go on dates."

"Actually, they do. Pretty much everyone's welcome." Arizona stated.

Mako froze for a second after this and he actually thought that this would be a good experience for him and he said, "Maybe Reiko would love to go out dancing. When is it?"

"About...4 days. Shifu and the Five are still going to the Noodle Feast the next day, so that's good." Arizona added.

Ms. Faye then comes in and she walks up to Arizona and she said, "Thanks for coming back, Arizona. I've never seen anyone willing to volunteer to make the kids' holiday special."

"It's just an honor to do so." Arizona replied.

"So, are you coming back tomorrow?" asked Ms. Faye.

Arizona nodded his head and said, "Same time, same place."

Mako chuckled at this and was really proud of Arizona for how he contributed his time spending at the orphanage to make their days better and he said, "Arizona, you're like the son I never had and your willing to care for children makes me very proud."

"Thanks." Arizona said.

Max then comes over to him and hugs him by the waist and he said, "This is an early Christmas present."

Arizona then hugs Max back and he said, "And thank you for that gift. I'll see you later. And I'll be there on Christmas Day at your place."

Max definitely felt excited after hearing that Arizona's coming to their house for Christmas and he said, "Promise?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Arizona added.

Arizona then puts Max down, says his bye's to everyone and heads back to the palace while Mako and Cody were ready to get home and Max looks at Bakari and Isaiah and said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"We can't wait to come play with you at your house." Bakari said, happily.

"Same here. It'd be cool to see what an actual house looks like." Isaiah agreed.

Cody comes up behind Max and gets down on one knee and motions Max to hop on his shoulder and as Max got on his neck, he looks over and waves bye to them and they're definitely excited to stay at Max's house for the next several days.

* * *

And so...the fun begins!


	7. Costumes and Christmas Surpise

This next chapter is dedicated to Joe 'Po' Navark. Hope you like what I did here. Nothing like running to an old friend when you're out and about.

* * *

Chapter 7: Costumes and Christmas Surprise

In the village, Musaki was walking his way towards most of the village to find some Christmas presents for his Jade Palace family and his relatives, while finding some attire for the Christmas Ball and things of that nature. And after that, he was on his way to check on his cousins to see how they're doing on his holiday season because that's the major important factor.

He walked into this clothing store to find something he would wear on this ball and he definitely wanted to look presentable but not too over the top. He went through several different racks of clothes to find what looks good and then, he found the one...a grey silver vest with white and red pants and he sees it as holiday festive and said, "Now this is completely cool."

"I'll say."

Suddenly, he sees his friend Jo standing there and he lets out a chuckle and said, "Jo...what's up?"

Jo comes over and gives Musaki a little fist bump and he said, "Pretty good. Heard that Master Shifu's giving out a Christmas Ball at the palace."

Musaki was a ltitle bit speechless as to how Jo knew about that and he said, "How did you...?"

Jo chuckled softly and said, "Isn't that obvious? Shifu told me that today when he saw me walking through the village. That's why I came here...to find something that I can wear so I won't have to look too weird."

"Weird?" asked Musaki.

"You know, I don't want to look too strange in an event like this." Jo explained.

Musaki stared at the badger for a second and he couldn't find one strange thing about Jo in every which way possible and he looks up at him and said, "You're not strange or weird to me."

"You think so?" asked Jo.

Musaki smiled and said, "I know so."

As much as Jo was fully appreciated to hear this from Musaki, he still felt like he was unusual in many ways than none, but didn't want Musaki to know he still feels the same way yet. Jo then clears his throat and asked, "You think they got anything decent?"

"They might." Musaki replied.

While Jo searches around, Musaki went into a fitting room and tried on his new attire and when he looked in the mirror after having it on, he definitely feels like a totally different person, though a little cooler. He chuckled softly and said to himself, "Now that's me."

"Hey, Musaki?" Jo asked.

Musaki turns around and stepped outside of the dressing room and Jo looked up at his outfit in awe and he said, "Whoa...that's pretty cool."

"Thanks. Not too fancy or anything, right?" asked Musaki.

Jo nodded his head in response and he said, "Nope. It suits you."

Musaki chuckled softly at this response and he then asked, "Not too weird, right?"

"No."

Musaki smiled at him for a second and he said to Jo, "Thanks."

Musaki then noticed Jo holding a certain outfit that consists of a pair of grey silver pants, red and white shirt and a grey sash on his hand and he asked, "That's what you're gonna wear?"

"I was kinda thinking about it, but I wasn't really sure about it." Jo replied.

"Just do what you think is best for you. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks." Musaki replied.

Jo wasn't sure how to respond to that, but he knew that Musaki was right about it. He's trying his best to not care what anyone thinks of him or how others would want him to be in order to please them for their sake. One look at this outfit and he wanted to come as he is and he went ahead onto the fitting room and gives it a shot.

By the second he came out of there with those holiday outfits on, Jo looks to Musaki to give the notice and said, "How do I look?"

Musaki couldn't help but be impressed with his attire and he replied, "Looking good, Jo."

"Be honest." Jo added.

"It really does look good. You'll definitely be the best dressed dude in the ball." Musaki added.

"Thanks."

Soon enough, Musaki paid for the attire for the ball and as soon as he walked out of the store with Jo, he looked at him and said, "So, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I'll see you at the gathering." Jo said, before taking off.

After Jo left, Musaki still found plenty of time to head over to do some Christmas shopping for his family and after hours of shopping, Musaki made his way to his Uncle Mako's place to see how he and the rest of the kids are doing. As soon as he went inside, Samurai was about to head out and he said, "Hey, Sammy."

"Hey, Saki. Sorry I can't stay. I got some work to do at the Noodle Shop." Samurai added.

"What all you have to do?" asked Musaki.

"Not much. All I have to do is make sure everything's all set up for the Noodle Feast, like put together the dishes, clean up the shop...but other than that, nothing much. Should be done in about an hour or so." Samurai said.

Musaki smiled at this and he said, "Well, good luck with that."

After Samurai departed, Musaki went in and he saw Mako sitting down on the couch, just trying to take it easy for a bit and he walked towards him and he said, "Hey, Uncle."

Mako looks up and he sees his beloved nephew standing there and he lets out a smile and said, "Xing-Fu...how ya doing?"

"Good. You look kinda exhausted." Musaki said, as he sat down on the floor.

Mako sits up and motions Musaki to sit next to him, which he kindly obliges and he tells his nephew, "I'm all tired out. I just needed some rest after work. How are you doing?"

"Fine. Just looking forward till Christmas." Musaki replied.

Mako nodded his head and he said, "Max said he wants a little brother for Christmas."

Musaki was surprised and also excited for him to know that Max is gonna be a big brother and he asked, "You sure he's up for the task?"

"We went to the orphanage today and I saw Max playing with two orphans there and that's when I knew that he's gonna be a great brother to these kids. Ms. Faye had asked about you though." Mako added.

Musaki smiled at that and he said, "I kow she's doing good. There are a lot of orphans in this time of year that don't have a home or a family yet."

Mako agreed with that and he said, "There were three orphans that I wanted to adopt and after today, it could be Max's christmas gift, so...don't tell Max this."

"Okay." Musaki whispered.

"I'm gonna bring them into my house and they'll spend the holiday week with him and the others. They're gonna stay until Christmas and when that comes...they'll go from orphans to a part of our family." Mako said, in a hushed tone.

Musaki widened his eyes at that idea and he said, "That is a great idea."

"All the more to have Max's christmas special." Mako added.

* * *

Was that cool or was that cool? Jo is owned by Joe 'Po' Navark. Stick around for more!


	8. First Time Guests

Guess who shows up?!

* * *

Chapter 8: First Time Guests

The next day comes along and Max is sitting on the front porch of the house, anxiously waiting for his dad to show up with Isaiah and Bakari and he was definitely looking forward to spending the entire holiday season with them and knowing that it'll only be until Christmas was just another way of thinking that this is gonna be the best Christmas ever.

Soon enough, he sees one of Musaki's orphan friends walk past the house and one couldn't help but recognize Max sitting there and he walked into the porch and he asked, "You're Max, aren't you?"

Max was a little confused as to how did he know him well and how he knew Musaki and he replied, "Yeah...who are you?"

"I'm Miko, your cousin Musaki's friend."

Max stood up and he slowly walks up to him, whereas Miko got to his level and pulled out a handshake, hoping that Max will be cool with him. Max slowly accepts the handshake and Miko lets out a smile and said, "Musaki's told me a lot about you."

"How did you know Musaki?" asked Max.

Miko lets out a deep exhale and he replied, "We both met each other at the orphanage when we were close to your age. We've become very close friends ever since."

Max blinked his eyes twice and he said, "Are you guys still friends?"

"Oh, yeah. We're always friends...and always will be. He's the greatest friend to have." Miko replied, with a smile.

Max then went from confused to happy within a few seconds because if Miko's a friend of Musaki's, he's definitely a friend of his. Miko then said, "Hey, I gotta go, but it was great meeting you."

"You too." Max said.

Mako was already heading back to the house with the orphans in two when he saw Miko standing there and he said, "Hey there, Miko."

Miko chuckled softly and and said, "Hey, Mako. Just met Max here."

Mako nods his head in response and he asked, "What you been up to?"

"Eh, not much. Just, you know...working and things like that. I'm actually about to head to the Jade Palace to see how Musaki's doing." Miko replied.

Mako smiled at that after hearing that Miko's doing really well and he said, "That's great. Happy holidays."

"Same to you." Miko said, before heading off.

Meanwhile, Max saw his dad coming in with the orphans and he was definitely excited to see Bakari and Isaiah coming in and as they both saw Max, they immediately went over to him and they were just as excited as Max is. Bakari said, "This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!"

Isaiah couldn't agree more with that and he said, "We don't have to sit around in the cold anymore."

Max smiled and said, "We could have like sleepovers every night."

Bakari stares at Max for a second and he asked, in a confused tone, "What are sleepovers?"

Mako then walks in front of the kids and then...to the kids' surprise, he brought in Duke to join in on the remainder of the holidays and Max asked, "What's Duke doing here?"

"Well...I decided to bring him in along with Bakari and Isaiah and it took some time to convince him. I told him that he'll do his best to be good and adapt to what we do here." Mako replied.

Bakari, Isaiah and Max wasn't quite sure about letting Duke in the house, but Duke could see it in their faces already and he said to Mako, "I'd rather be back at the orphanage."

"Now, Duke...you need to get used to staying at someone's place. Besides, it's the one way for you to have a family and a decent home. Just at least try your best, understand?" Mako asked.

Duke lets out a deep sigh and he said, "Yes, I understand."

Not long after, the three came in the house and Bakari couldn't help but be amazed by how it looks like on the inside and he said, "I wish I could live here."

"Me too." Max agreed.

Mako didn't want to give away the surprise he's gonna give Max for Christmas and he couldn't help but agree with what Bakari said about it and after that, Mako said to the three orphans, "Welcome to my home. Now, you three are gonna spend the entire Christmas week with me and it'll be a test to see how well you're adapting into living in a new home surrounded by family. I just want you guys to have fun with each other, but not too much."

Bakari and Isaiah understood what Mako said and Duke reluctantly nodded his head in agreement because he's a little too...rusty when it comes to rules, but is willing to at least try. Just then, Arizona comes in the house and after he greeted Mako, he sees the three kids from the orphanage inside the house and he said, "Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

"We're actually here to spend the whole Christmas holiday with Max." Isaiah answered.

Arizona lets out a smile after that and he said, "That's awesome. You know, you guys are gonna have so much fun with Max."

"Yes, I bet we will." Bakari agreed.

Mako clears his throat and he said to Max, "Hey, son...why don't you show the three to your room?"

"Okay." Max replied, before giving a wave to Arizona.

As Max takes Bakari, Duke and Isaiah to his room, Arizona asked Mako, "So...why'd you bring them here?"

"I'm actually gonna give Max the test in being a good big brother. See, these three need a home, so I decided to let them stay with me in the house until at least Christmas Eve. By the time Christmas Day rolls along, they'll be a new addition to the family...which is Max's Christmas gift." Mako said, in a hushed tone.

That excited Arizona to hear that Max will have three little brothers and he couldn't help but feel happy for him with that and he said, "I know Max will love it."

"But I wanna keep it a surprise for Max. It's only until Christmas Day." Mako whispered.

Arizona nodded in understand after receiving that message and he said, "Your secret's safe with me."

* * *

How's that? We've gots plenty more coming up!


	9. Heading to the Jade Palace

And here's where Max takes the three orphans to the Jade Palace!

* * *

Chapter 9: Heading to the Jade Palace

After a few minutes of settling in, Bakari looks over at Max and he asked, "What do you normally do around here?"

Max turns to Bakari and he replied, "Mostly play, read, draw and nap. But sometimes I like to pretend I'm a kung-fu master."

Isaiah looks up at Max and he said, "Kung-Fu?"

"Uh-huh. My wolf brother Arizona lives in the Jade Palace with some of the coolest kung-fu masters around here; the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five." Max replied.

Isaiah and Bakari dropped their jaws in shock as to how Max actually knows them and Duke scoffs in disbelief and he said, "You don't know them. Why would they hang around you?"

Max could tell that Duke is questioning the fact that he actually knows the masters and he said, "I've known them for a year. They live with my cousin."

"Oh, yeah? Prove it." Duke said, crossing his arms.

Bakari chuckled softly in nervousness and he said to Max, "Duke always likes to be right."

Arizona comes into the room to see how these boys are doing and he asked, "What's up, guys? Doing okay here?"

Isaiah looks up at Arizona for a second and he said, "Yep. How'd you and Max become brothers?"

Arizona chuckled softly in response to that and he figured that in Isaiah's mind that it was a little weird on how a tiger has a wolf for a brother and he replied, "We've been brothers for a year...year and a half and sometimes, most of them found it weird that a wolf would have a tiger as a little brother, but we have a strong bond that not a lot of others have. We may be in different species, but the brotherhood stays the same."

"Yeah, he's here for me and I'm here for him. It's like we both have each other's back." Max replied.

"Do you guys ever fight?" asked Duke.

Arizona rolls his eyes in response and he asked, "Well, sometimes...but me and Max never have any actual big fights."

"Nope, we may be different, but we're still brothers." Max added.

Duke sorta gets it for a bit and then he asked, "Do you really live in the Jade Palace? Max says he knows the masters and I say it's a lie."

"Is not." Max replied.

"Is too!" Duke added.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Is not!"

"Is too!"

Arizona picks both cubs up to separate them and he said, "All right, guys. That's enough. Man, not even 10 minutes in and already you guys are fighting."

"Just admit it, Max. You don't know the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior." Duke said, with a smirk on his face.

Max was getting really steamed in response, but Arizona looks up at him and his face motioned him to ease down a little bit and then, the grey wolf turns to Duke and he replied, "He actually does."

"Prove it. Take us there." Duke added.

Arizona was about to head back there anyway and without even thinking about it, he turns to the others and asked, "Have any of you guys wanted to see what the inside of the Jade Palace looks like?"

Minutes later...

Arizona takes Max, Bakari, Isaiah and Duke over to the Jade Palace and as the three orphans saw what it actually looks like, Bakari was surprised at how high up it goes and he asked, "We have to go through all these stairs?"

"I know, right?" Arizona asked, in agreement.

"It'll feel like forever when he get to the top." Isaiah remarked.

Max looks at Isaiah for a second and he replied, "Don't worry. It's not gonna take that long."

Another couple of minutes have passed and they eventually made it on their way to the top of the Jade Palace and Duke started panting heavily and he said, "Now that felt like forever."

"That's how the Dragon Warrior thought." Max replied.

Arizona then walks up in front of them and he said, "Well...this is it, you guys. What you're about to see will blow your minds. I'd like to welcome you to the Jade Palace."

All three orphans were completely excited to see what's behind these doors and as soon as Arizona opens the door...the three boys were blown away by what's inside.

"Wow..." they all said.

* * *

You'll see more of this on the next chapter! I thought about just leaving it there, so...hope it's cool.


	10. First Sight

And here's how the orphans see the Jade Palace for the first time.

* * *

Chapter 10: First Sight

Bakari, Isaiah and Duke were wide-eyed as they looked around the entire Hall of Heroes and as they walked inside, they couldn't help but be speechless about it and Max could completely agree with their amazement that they're experiencing right now. Bakari lets out a sharp gasp and he said, "It's even better than the pictures."

"This is where all of us kung-fu masters and masters in training spend their time here, but mostly Master Shifu." Arizona explained.

Isaiah was looking at the artifacts of the palace and he wanted to have a closer look at them for a second and Arizona walked towards Isaiah and said, "Looks good, huh?"

"Yeah. Wonder what you would do with them?" asked Isaiah.

"Just looking at it." Arizona added.

Soon enough, in comes Musaki walking through the Hall of Heroes with the new outfit and he was surprised to see Max coming in...as well as three new kids all around and he had no idea where they came from and he said, "Hello there."

Bakari looks up at Musaki and he walks over to him and asked, "Are you the Dragon Warrior?"

Musaki then gets on Bakari's level and he responded, "No...but I have been told I look like him though."

Duke then gets in front of Musaki and he takes a look at him and he asked, "You're supposed to be the Dragon Warrior? I thought you'd be bigger than that."

Musaki then rose his head up and he lets out a little chuckle after Duke's comment and he looks up at Arizona and Max and he asked, "Who are they?"

"Some kids at the orphanage. Musaki, this is Bakari, Isaiah and Duke. They're staying with Max for the holidays." Arizona answered.

Musaki looks at them for a second and he said, "They look pretty cool. How old are you guys?"

"Six and a half." Isaiah answered.

"Five." Bakari replied.

"Seven." Duke answered.

Max then went towards Musaki and he told them, "We thought that we'd show them what the Jade Palace looks like an so far, it's going okay."

"Does Master Shifu know you're coming?" asked Musaki.

Arizona chuckled and scratched the back of his spiky hair and he replied, "Not exactly...but I was gonna head back here anyway."

Max then went towards the orphans and he asked, "You guys wanna see the Training Hall?"

At the Training Hall

All six of them went over to the Training Hall to see what it looks like for a second and the three orphans couldn't help but be enamored by how it looks like and that this is what the kung-fu masters do around here. Duke then lets out a huge chuckle as he looks all around and he said, "I almost believe you, Max."

Max smiled at that and he said, "Now I love being right."

Musaki clears his throat and said, "Can't stay here too long though. Master Shifu told me that there's no training for this holiday season."

Bakari was surprised to actually hear that and asked, "Why not?"

"It's the holidays. Even though evil takes no holiday, the training hall does." Musaki replied.

Duke scoffs at this and said, "I have got to see what those things are all about."

Arizona and Musaki were hoping that Duke was joking with this, but as he was going to hop on one of the Swinging Clubs, they immediately stopped him before he could get himself poked on one of the sharp objects there and Musaki caught him by the tail and got him down there. Arizona looks up at Duke and asked, "Any reason why?"

"Well...I wanted to see if this was real." Duke answered.

Arizona grunts as he got up and dusted himself off and replied, "Yes, they're real and dangerous. They're for kung-fu masters to train with only."

Sooner or later, Bakari held onto a war hammer and it was definitely heavy for him to lift up and Arizona was quickly alarmed that he was holding onto it and asked, "What are you doing with it?"

"Just wanna...see...if it's...heavy." Bakari replied, grunting.

"It is heavy." Max replied.

Musaki was familiarized with that war hammer and remembered something about it and he asked, "Isn't that the same war hammer that Shifu said would like explode if you throw it down to the ground?"

Arizona then recalled that particular war hammer the same way Po dropped it months ago and both of them quickly stopped Bakari from dropping it and the brown lion cub was struggling to hold onto it and all of them were completely worried about what's gonna happen next.

"Why don't you just drop it?" asked Duke.

"Bad idea." Arizona replied.

As they were trying to get the hammer away from Bakari, the lion cub tried his best to let go of it, but somewhat spins around as the weight gets more and more heavier by the minute and Arizona was definitely afraid of what's gonna happen next. Arizona then said, "You're gonna hurt yourself!"

"How do I put it down?" asked Bakari.

"Let us help you." Musaki said, in a panicked voice.

Bakari spun around with the hammer and all of them ducked down each time it almost lands on them and a single door opening startled the brown lion cub and as he tried to keep himself under control, he stopped himself and lets out a sigh of relief and he saw mostly Arizona and the others looking at him and he asked, "What?"

"That hammer has like powers in it." Musaki added.

"It does?" asked Bakari, looking at the hammer.

Bakari takes a look at it and wasn't sure if it does have powers or if it's a normal hammer and he said, "Doesn't look like it has magic to me."

"You sure?" asked Arizona.

Bakari then takes a look at it again and then the weight became too heavier for him to carry and as he turned around, he accidently hits someone in the head over it really hard and once he realized his mistake, he walked over and saw that there was an orange tiger knocked out cold.

The others looked over and surrounded her and all of them were shocked when it was Tigress that got hit hard and Max said, "Tigress is knocked out."

"I'm so sorry. It was an accident." Bakari said, looking scared.

Arizona then grabs the hammer away from Bakari and he puts it to where he found it and then comes back and asked, "How is Master Shifu gonna find out about this?"

"It was an accident." Bakari said.

"We know it was." Arizona said, calming him down.

"Maybe they won't notice." Musaki added.

* * *

I hope I didn't make it too frightening. Stay tuned for more!


	11. First Intro's

And here the three orphans meet Master Tigress...to which Bakari accidently hit her in the head with a hammer. How will the first meeting go down?

* * *

Chapter 11: First Intro's

Later on, Tigress slowly opened her eyes and she saw herself in a different room and she found that she was in her room and was a little curious as to how she got back there and felt a little pain in her head and when she rubbed it, she thought that something had struck her straight in the head really hard. She then seeks a furry brown lion cub under the side of her mat and when Bakari looks up, he slowly backs away from her.

"Hi." Bakari said, in a frightful voice.

Tigress then glared at him in a menacing look and Bakari backed away from her and into the wall and she asked, "Who are you?"

"M-m-m-my name's Bakari." Bakari answered.

"And how did you come to our palace?" asked Tigress, with a growl.

Bakari was definitely scared of what she might do to him and he said, "We wanted to see what it would look like in person, then we were in the training hall and I saw this big hammer and it was really, really heavy and then...then I..."

"You what?"

"I accidently hit you in the head with it." Bakari finished.

Once Tigress got his answer, she thought it was him and it explained how she got that big concussion she had received and Bakari looked in constant fear and he said, "Please don't kill me. It was an accident."

Tigress winced at the pain for the first time that she had felt none at all and she turned to him and got a little closer to him, driving him to a fearful frenzy and he said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!"

The closer she got to him, the more intimidated and fearful Bakari had gotten and suddenly, Bakari lets out a very loud and frightful scream that the whole region of China could hear from a mile away. After that, Isaiah burst open the door and he shouted, "Listen, lady! I won't let you kill my best friend! Kill me instead!"

"Forget that! I'm the one you want! Kill me instead of these two kittens!" Duke shouted.

Tigress stared at them in a state of confusion and she asked them, "What are you all talking about?"

"I accidently hit your head with this big hammer at the Training Hall! I didn't mean for it to happen!" Bakari shouted.

"Don't kill us! We just wanna live until Christmas!" Duke pleaded.

Then, Isaiah unsheathed his claws and he said, "I'm warning you! I've got two claws and I'm not afraid to use them!"

Tigress then stopped this whole ordeal and she told them, "Who said I was gonna kill you?"

All three cubs froze for a second and then they turned to her in a confused look in their faces and Duke asked, "Weren't you gonna? We heard that you hate kids."

That comment seemed to give Tigress a little bit of confusion and also some anger in her and she asked, "Who said?"

"I don't know. We heard it from other kids at the orphanage." Bakari answered.

Tigress then figured that out quickly and she assumed that there was some new kids saying those kinds of assumptions and making it seem like it's believable and she looked at all thee of them and noticed that they are orphans and she went down to their level and said, "I'm not gonna kill any single one of you."

"You aren't?" asked Duke.

"No. I never said I hated kids. Just don't know how to handle them." Tigress stated.

"Oh..." they all said, in unison.

She then looks at Bakari and she told him, "I know you didn't mean to do it. I honestly thought someone did it on purpose, but now that you said it was an accident, I believe you."

"Thanks."

"I'm Isaiah and these are my friends, Bakari and Duke." Isaiah said.

Both Duke and Bakari waved their hands at her and she stood up and bowed to them in response and then pulls out her paw to show that she's okay. Bakari was a little reluctant in doing so, but slowly reached out and shook her paw and the same went with Isaiah and Duke and Bakari said, "You know, I thought all tigers were supposed to be mean and evil."

"Some are, but some aren't. It's our reputation to be tough." Tigress added.

Just then, Max comes in the room to see what's going on and he was surprised that neither of them were getting scared of her and he asked, "You guys okay?"

"We're fine, Max." Bakari added.

Max then looked up at Tigress and he thought that she might've gotten mad at them and said, "I am so sorry. Bakari didn't mean to hit your head with that hammer. He just wanted to see if it was heavy and...then we...it just...we didn't mean for it to...Oh, I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry."

Tigress could see that Max is panicking and she got to his level and said, "Max, calm down. Calm down. I'm not that mad."

Max froze for a second and realized that she wasn't really furious or anything but rather calm about this and he asked, "Why aren't you?"

"Listen, Bakari didn't mean any harm whatsoever. So, I'm not mad at him." Tigress replied.

"Ooooookay..." Max said, chuckling nervously.

Just then, Musaki and Arizona arrived to see how things are going and Musaki said to her, "First of all, let me just say that Bakari made a mistake on slamming your head and second of all..."

"Musaki...it's fine. He didn't mean to make a mistake. Accidents happen." Tigress added.

Arizona and Musaki looked at each other and sees that she's not in one of those rage-ish moments that she's usually in and Arizona asked, "So, you're okay?"

"Yes." she answered.

Later that day, Musaki, Arizona, Max, Bakari, Duke and Isaiah were heading towards the Hall of Heroes because Master Shifu had called for them and all three orphans were a little nervous about what's going on. When they did face the grandmaster, Duke looks up at Max and whispered, "Now I believe you."

Shifu looks over at them and he asked, "Which one of you hit Tigress in the head?"

Bakari slowly stepped in and he said, in a scared tone, "I did. It was a total accident, sir."

Shifu walked over to the brown lion cub and he asked, "How old are you, son?"

"5."

"Where did you come from?" asked Shifu.

"From the Bao Gu Orphanage." Bakari answered.

That was enough for Shifu to hear and he looked at Isaiah and Duke and told them, "Well...did you apologize to Tigress?"

"Yes, I did." Bakari replied.

Shifu clears his throat and he told Bakari, "All right. What are all your names?"

"Isaiah Xiu."

"Tau Bakari."

"What's up, dude? The name's Duke Kao. I'm with them." Duke added.

Shifu clears his throat and looks at Duke for a second and said, "I go by Master Shifu. And my name is not dude."

Max chuckled softly at this and he said, "They're sticking around at my house for Christmas."

"Really? That's...interesting." Shifu added.

Musaki nodded his head for a second and he said, "Anyways, we just thought we'd show them around the Jade Palace because Duke said that he doesn't believe that Max actually knew you guys."

"Well, of course I know Max. The Five knows him. Even the Dragon Warrior knows him." Shifu added.

Duke looked at Max and realized that it is indeed the real thing and he said, "Now I definitely believe you."

Isaiah then walked in front of Shifu and he said, "It's an honor and a privilege to actually meet you."

"The same as well." Shifu replied.

* * *

Glad it worked out. Next chapter...they meet the other masters!


	12. Meeting the Other Warriors

And here's where the three orphans get to meet the other kung-fu warriors!

* * *

Chapter 12: Meeting the Other Warriors

Sometime later, Bakari, Isaiah, Duke, Max and Arizona were heading towards the barracks to see if they have a little snack in the kitchen and as they got there, they saw the Five and the Dragon Warrior already there and Arizona looks up and asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope. We were just hanging out and deciding what to wear for the Christmas Ball." Mantis replied.

"Oh...have you figured out what you're gonna wear yet?" asked Arizona.

Mantis looks over at the wardrobe choices on what suits him and he replied, "No idea. But you know, clothes are so overrated."

Viper turns around and sees the three orphans beside Arizona and she couldn't help but notice their adorable faces and she said, "Hello there."

"Hi." Isaiah replied.

"My name's Viper. What's yours?" asked Viper.

"I'm Isaiah Xiu. And these are my friends Duke and Bakari." Isaiah replied.

Viper waved her tail to them and they also waved back at her and the others couldn't help but to see them for the first time and Crane looks at them and said, "Hello. How are you guys?"

"Pretty good. We're spending Christmas at Max's house." Bakari replied.

"You are?" asked Tigress.

Bakari nodded his head and he said, "We're gonna have the bestest Christmas ever!"

Po chuckled at this and he said to them, "Well, nice to meet you all. I'm Po, the Dragon Warrior."

Bakari, Duke and Isaiah were really surprised to see the Dragon Warrior in person and they said, "Whoa..."

"Yeah, I know. I get that a lot." Po added.

Arizona smiled at Po in reponse and he said, "And then some."

"They came from the orphanage and my dad said they can stay over for the holidays." Max replied.

Mantis hopped over to Max's shoulder and he said, "That's great, Maxie. Why though?"

Arizona figured that Mantis was gonna know about the secret behind their stay at Mako's place and that it would be a complete spoiler to Max's Christmas surprise and he said, "Mantis...shouldn't you focus on what outfit you're gonna wear for the Ball?"

Duke then asked the others, "What do you guys normally do around here?"

"We mostly train, exercise, eat, train some more, do chores, train, eat, sleep and do it all again the next day." Monkey replied.

"That's it?" asked Duke.

"And we save China too." Tigress added.

Viper then chimed in and said to them, "But it's not all we do. As of this week, we're celebrating Christmas, so we're taking a week off from training."

"And I say thank goodness. We've been training nonstop for a year." Musaki added.

Tigress mocked sarcastically about Musaki's comment and she said, "I don't see why you're against this."

"Yeah, I'm not. We just need a little break every once in a while for at least one year." Musaki added.

Max, Duke, Isaiah and Bakari were about to wander around parts of the palace and Musaki decided to catch up with them and as soon as they were gone, Arizona then told them, "Wanna know the real reason about these three orphans?"

"What about?" asked Monkey.

"Don't tell anyone...including Max, but they're his Christmas presents. Max said he wanted a little brother for Christmas and with them around, that wish could come true for him." Arizona answered.

The Five and Po were completely surprised to hear that Max is gonna be a big brother for the first time...even Tigress was shocked. She didn't think that Max could take that kind of responsibility and she asked, "You sure Max is up for this?"

"He's eight. I think it's time for him to learn a little bit of responsibility." Arizona added.

"He's turning into a big kid now." Viper said.

Arizona nodded and he said, "Remember, don't tell Max about it. It needs to be a surprise."

The others glared at Po because they know that he could barely keep a secret for even a minute and Po asked, "What, you guys don't trust me to keep a secret?"

"Po, you blab about almost everything." Mantis replied.

Po gasped in offense and said, "I do not blab!"

Arizona rolled his eyes in disagreement at that and he said, "Yeah, you did. You blabbed to me and Musaki about the one time that you snuck into Monkey's room and mooned his face."

Monkey turns to Po for a second and he said, "I thought that was you."

"Oops."

* * *

Was that awesome or what? Stick around for more!


	13. Adjusting to a New Atmosphere

We switch gears to how Bakari, Isaiah and Duke are gonna be used to a new life in what a real home is.

* * *

Chapter 13: Adjusting to an Atmosphere

Early that evening, Max was walking towards the barracks with Duke, Isaiah and Bakari to continue looking around and while Musaki was behind them, Shifu came out of nowhere and that sorta freaked Bakari out a little bit and he asked, "How'd you get here?"

Shifu stroked his beard and he replied, "I always come when you at least expect it."

Bakari nodded his head slowly and seemed a little bit freaked, but he respected Shifu too much to be scared of him and then, the grandmaster turned his attention to Max and he asked, "Are you attending the Christmas Ball?"

"Um...the Christmas Ball?" asked Max, confusedly.

Shifu then said, "Yes, we have a Christmas Ball at the Jade Palace where the best kung-fu masters arrive for some dancing and dining. Couples are also allowed to attend."

Max then asked Shifu, "Can my dad and his girlfriend come along to the party or do they need invitations?"

Shifu froze for a second regarding Max's mentioning of invitations and he asked, "Only the well known kung-fu masters receive invitations. Couples can come as well...only if they were something elegant."

"So, they have to wear fancy stuff?" asked Duke.

"Yes." Shifu replied.

Shifu then turns to Musaki for a second and he asked, "Did you pick something special to wear for the occasion?"

"Yep. Picked it out myself." Musaki replied.

"Perfect."

Just then, in comes Samurai coming in the Jade Palace and as he comes across Master Tigress, he said, "Hey, just came for Max and the new kids. Have you seen them?"

"In the barracks." Tigress replied.

Samurai bows to her and said, "Thanks. Merry Christmas!"

As soon as Samurai got to the barracks, he saw them at the hallways with Musaki and Shifu and he said, "Hey, guys. What's up? Hey, Musaki. Master Shifu."

"Samurai." Shifu said, with a bow.

Samurai bowed back and he looked up at the kids and he said, "Hey, time to head back to the house. My dad's making some egg rolls and sushi."

Max groans in disgust after hearing sushi and said, "They look gross."

"That's because you've never tried them for like 10 months." Samurai argued.

"Exactly."

Shifu interfered with this little ordeal and he said to Samurai, "What is in this sushi?"

"Raw fish."

Shifu's face froze for a second after hearing that sushi has raw fish on it and he had never tried any kinds of food that's uncooked, but wanted to keep that thought to himself and he said to Max, "You ought to try it out, Max."

"Have you ever tasted sushi?" asked Max.

"No, I haven't. But you need to learn how to eat something you've never tried before anyway. That's just how life works." Shifu replied.

Max didn't seem like he was gonna back down and resist eating sushi, but Shifu's words completely overshadowed the tiger cub's opposal and he knew for a fact that Shifu means business and he lets out a sigh and said, "You win."

Max comes with Duke, Bakari and Isaiah beside Samurai and they gave out a couple of see you later's to them as they headed out of the Jade Palace and made their way home. Musaki looks up at Shifu and he asked, "You never really ate sushi?"

"No. And I don't plan to." Shifu replied.

At Mako's house

Everyone gathered around at the table to lay their hands on some egg rolls and sushi and for a huge crowd of kids, it seems like a lot of food to eat. Max was pretty much skeptical about trying out some sushi and he had every intention to not eat it, but he couldn't stop thinking about what Shifu said about not being afraid to try something that's not really familiar to him.

"Hey, Max...I'll trade you my egg rolls for your sushi." Bakari whispered.

Samurai clears his throat, assuming that he had already heard what Bakari said and stared at Max, motioning him to try out the sushi and Max takes a look at it and he was really grossed out by the way it looks, but he had no other choice. He picks up his chopsticks, picks the sushi up and when he places it on his mouth and chews it up, Max felt disgusted, but that went away by the taste of it.

After a huge swallow, Max lets out a deep breath and an exhale and said, "Not bad."

Mako lets out a smile at Max and he said, "I told you. See what you've been missing, Max?"

Duke was definitely unwilling to try out some sushi and Isaiah with egg rolls because they weren't sure what it'll taste like, but they knew that they'll have to try it out eventually and after they did, Isaiah's taste buds were ecstatic while Duke's was a little disgusted.

Logan and Sage were arguing over who gets the more egg rolls and Madison grabbed the bowl of egg rolls away from the boys to prevent a food fight and passed it to Cody and Tsunami. Max asked for some egg rolls as well and he picks five pieces and Bakari eventually ate the sushi and the egg rolls.

"They taste okay." Bakari said.

Max chuckled at this and he said, "That's what I thought when I ate this."

Mako then looks at Duke, Isaiah and Bakari and asked, "How are you boys enjoying it here?"

"Pretty good, so far." Isaiah responded.

"Yeah, it's a good place." Bakari added.

"It's growing on me." Duke agreed.

* * *

For most that don't know, I sorta wanted to have Max dislike sushi. Weird, I know. Well, stick around for more!


	14. Their First Night

And here's where a night at Mako's house is like.

* * *

Chapter 14: Their First Night

Later that evening, Max was getting himself ready for bed as he puts on his pajamas and Mako lays out a couple of pajamas that some of his older siblings used to wear and decided to give those to Duke, Isaiah and Bakari as soon as they come towards Max's room. Max made his way to his room and he sees his dad there and as Mako turns around, he sees the little tiger cub standing there and asked, "Getting ready for bed already?"

"Yeah." Max replied.

Mako was definitely surprised that he was going to bed early and he lets out a chuckle and said, "Normally, you'd be way past your bedtime to stay awake. Why the sudden change?"

"I don't know. Just kinda felt a little tired, I guess." Max replied.

Max made his way to his bed and Mako said, "Whatever the reason, I'm actually proud of you for that."

"Thanks."

Just then, Bakari comes into the room and Mako turns around and tells him, "I got you an fresh pair of pajamas in your bed if you want some."

"Thank you." Bakari replied.

Mako then left the room to check in on the other kids to see if they're ready for bed and not long after, Isaiah and Duke came into the room as well and Max said, "My dad left some pajamas for you guys."

Bakari puts on his PJ's and as he looks at them, he responded, "They feel warm. A lot warmer than what I used to wear back at the orphanage. I usually wear some old clothes that have been...kinda dirty and full of rags."

"Yeah, I've been wearing the same clothes I've worn since I was at the orphanage, but never wore PJ's before." Isaiah chimed in.

"I just sleep without any clothes." Duke finished.

Max seemed a little bit disturbed to hear this come out of Duke and he said, "Moving on..."

Just then, Samurai pops in the room to check on the boys and he said, "Hey, how you guys doing?"

"Pretty good." they al said.

Samurai chuckled softly and he said, "Are you guys looking forward to Christmas?"

Max knows he's more than excited, but he's totally amped up for the holiday and he said, "Very excited!"

"We've never celebrated Christmas before, actually." Isaiah replied.

That definitely surprised both Max and Samurai to hear the orphans mention that they never celebrated Christmas before...but Max was the most surprised and a little shocked to hear that. Bakari then said, "But we hope we can."

"Don't worry. This Christmas will be one you'll never forget." Samurai added, with a smile.

"Hope so." Duke replied.

"Good night, guys."

After Samurai left, Max then sat down on his bed and he asked Isaiah, "Why haven't you guys celebrated Christmas before?"

Isaiah wasn't sure what to tell Max about that particular reason, mainly because of personal issues that he's not really ready to open up just yet and he said, "I don't feel like celebrating it, that's all."

"Same with me. We don't want to be a downer." Bakari replied.

"I just don't have that spirit." Duke added.

Max felt sorry for them because they've been at the orphanage so long that they never had a chance to experience Christmas before and make good memories for it. He then laid back down on his back, just thinking it over and he's hoping that this year would be a whole lot different. He said to them, "Maybe this one will be different."

"How do you know?" asked Duke.

"It will." Max replied.

Mako then came back to the room and he sees all four cubs in bed and he said, "All right, I know that it'll take some time for you guys to get used to in a new environment, but I'm sure that Max will help you out, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Max agreed.

"All right. Good night, boys."

"Good night." they all said.

* * *

This is what I came up with for the three orphans' first night. Stay tuned for more!


	15. All About Christmas

Max tries to bond with the others about Christmas.

* * *

Chapter 15: All About Christmas

By the next morning, Max and the orphans were still fast asleep as the sun shone down on his face, causing Max to groan in his sleep and he slowly opened them and sat up on the edge of his bed, yawning softly and scratching his back and just then, Max heard Isaiah yawn a little bit and he went over to him and he said, "Morning."

"Morning, Max." Isaiah replied, sluggishly.

Isaiah sat up on the bed, still a little sleepy and he looks up at Max and asked, "What time is it?"

"I don't know. I can't tell time." Max replied.

Isaiah got on all four paws and stretched himself a little bit and after that, he takes a deep breath and asked, "Where's the bathroom?"

"Follow me." Max said, as they left the room and into the hallway.

Later that morning, Duke and Bakari were about to head to the bathroom themselves and Duke wanted to be the first one to use it, but Bakari beat him to it as he ran inside the room and closed the door on Duke. The young white wolfdog wasn't gonna have it as he pounded the door several times, barking at Bakari to let him in.

"Come on, Bakari! My bladder can't take much hold of it!" Duke said, holding his pants.

The sound of Bakari urinating made Duke feel like he was gonna pee on himself any minute and he began whimpering nonstop and couldn't wait for Bakari to leave any longer and he continued knocking on the door multiple times. That was pretty much enough to get on Sage's nerves as soon as he came out of his room, angrily walking towards him and said, "Keep it down! I'm trying to sleep!"

"I'm waiting until Bakari comes out to use the bathroom...in which would take forever!" Duke exclaimed.

Just then, Bakari finally comes out of the bathroom and Duke sprints himself there and closed the door immediately after that. Bakari then looks at Sage and said, "Morning."

"Eh..." Sage replied.

For most of the morning, Max and Isaiah were just hanging out in his room, playing with a few of his toys he's sharing with and Max had his Dragon Warrior action figure while Isaiah's plaing with a Master Shifu action figure and they both played pretend battle with both toys and Isaiah looks like he's having fun for the first time in a long while.

Isaiah looks up at Max for a second and he asked, "Hey, Max. How long have you been at the orphanage?"

Max looks at Isaiah for a second and then replied, "When I was five or six."

"What happened to your real parents?" asked Isaiah.

Max was definitely unsure to tell Isaiah about his past, regarding his memories of his birth parents and the scars from that are just too deep for him to open up. He then replied, "My birth mom's dead and my birth dad...I don't even know where he is and I don't care."

"Why?" asked Isaiah.

Max lets out a heavy sigh and he said, "You don't know what they've done to me. You don't know what I have been through."

Isaiah could definitely see that it was a very touch subject that Max doesn't want to share and assuming that it was a traumatic one immediately lets him know that maybe he shouldn't have asked that question if it hurt so much. He then looks up at Max and said, "I know how you feel...being abandoned and all."

Max felt like he could relate to Isaiah so quickly because they have been both left behind and abandoned before and knew what the feeling of being unloved and unwanted felt like and he nods his head in agreement at that and Isaiah said, "So, what does Christmas mean to you, anyway?"

"Um...most people say it involves presents, decorations and everything in particular. But what my adopted dad said what it's really about is family. Like what's the holidays without family?" Max answered.

Isaiah held onto that thought for a second regarding the term 'family' and he never felt that dynamic before in his life, nor has he ever experienced it before. He then asked Max, "That's what Christmas is about?"

"Yep. Family. Being there for each other." Max replied.

Isaiah blinked a few times and he said, "I wish I had that. I don't know what it's like being a part of one."

That rose an interest to Max's curiosity as to why and he asked, "How come?"

* * *

You'll get to hear about Isaiah's past in the next chapter!


	16. About Isaiah

Isaiah tells Max about how he got to the orphanage and this is very heartbreaking.

* * *

Chapter 16: About Isaiah

Isaiah looks at Max for a minute and wants to tell him everything about his life and how he got to be abandoned when he was cub and he said, "You wanna know?"

Max nodded his head in reply and he said, "Yeah, I do."

The young snow leopard cub took a deep breath, looks up at Max and he said, "I barely remember much about my past, but when I was a baby...my mom and dad didn't seem happy to see me after I was born and I could hear them screaming, fighting and all of this. Nothing that a baby should see or hear and they didn't even want me. So...I was switched to the orphanage and I stayed there since. Most of the times, I was all alone in my room and everyone sorta looked at me like I was a beast or a monster or sometimes the Tai-Lung lookalike. They think I'm like him, but I don't even know who he is. They assume that I'm related to him, but I'm not. But that didn't stop the other kids from teasing me about it and running away from me. I always felt like I'm not good enough to be a part of any family or be adopted to one and that I'll stay there for the rest of my life."

After Max had listened to what Isaiah said, his heart completely broke for him and it was like nothing he had ever experienced before, not even in his entire lifetime. Max asked him, "You never had anyone?"

"No. I met Bakari about 2 years ago and he was the only friend I had...almost sorta like brothers in a sense." Isaiah answered.

"I see."

Isaiah then said, "There are days that I wish I had a big brother or a mom and dad and I would hope that everything's okay. But I also know that it would never happen because like it or not, I'm not meant to be a part of one because I'm afraid that I'll be sent back."

Max blinked his eyes and said, "That's rough. But you're not the only one that went through things like that. When I was really little, my birth parents weren't the best ones either. My dad left me, my birth mom and a few other sibs I had and my mom hated me. She would hurt me a lot and she abandoned me one day by some wolves that tortured me. I ran away from them and I lived in the forest for a long time until I woke up to an orphanage. Some kids would always tease me and just bully me a lot."

Isaiah widened his eyes in response to that and that made him look back on all the times that he had been bullied before and he asked, "You were bullied too?"

"Yeah. It would hurt my feelings." Max replied.

"How did you end up living here?" asked Isaiah.

Max clears his throat and replied, "Well...it was about a month after I was six and a half and my adopted dad came into my room one day and at first, I didn't know why he was here or why did he find me. I didn't wanna get hurt again, but he told me that everything's gonna be okay and that he wasn't gonna hurt me. I didn't really believe it at first, but when he told me that he was gonna take me home, I felt like I needed somewhere else to get out of the orphanage and it was my way out. He took me in and I had a lot of brothers and sisters and it made me feel like I really belong here. I was kinda scared that they wouldn't like me, but after that...I felt like I had a family for the first time ever and it was different from what I had years ago. Met my cousins and I have a wolf brother on top of it and I was happy."

Isaiah looked down on the floor in sadness and he figured that he might never have that chance and Max scooted towards him and said, "And so will you."

Isaiah lets a few tears fall from his eyes and he quickly wiped them and said, "You think so? I've always been afraid that no one would want me."

"I would." Max replied.

Hearing that made Isaiah feel like he was definitely accepted and that he sees Max as his big brother and he hugged him tightly in response and Max gladly accepted the hug and said, "You'll have a family someday."

Both cubs were unaware that Mako was looking the entire time and he was smiling at the fact that Max is treating Isaiah like he's his real brother and he thought to himself, 'Yes, you will. Keep your head up, Isaiah.'

* * *

Max has the makings of being a really good big brother, doesn't he? We've got more coming up!


	17. Not the Only Ones

We get to know Bakari's past and it's very heartbreaking.

* * *

Chapter 17: Not the Only Ones

Bakari looks up at the window of the house and as he watches a few snowflakes falling down, he sees people with their kids around, just being joyful and happy together as a family and he felt like a part of him was missing deep inside that he had always wanted to have. Just thinking about it really made him very sad to know that he doesn't have any of that and he just quietly walked down to Samurai's room to have some alone time. Luckily, Samurai's not in his room at the moment, so he hopped onto the bed and just hid his face away while he lets the tears fall down and starts crying.

It made Bakari look back on all the times he's been in every foster home leading up to Bao Gu Orphanage and he felt like he'll never be in a family for as long as he live due to fear of being sent back again and that's something he'll never recover.

Just then, Mako walked past Samurai's room and he couldn't help but notice Bakari laying there and he slowly walked inside there and to his surprise, he heard Bakari cry. He quietly sat down on the edge of the bed and puts his hand on Bakari's shoulder and once the brown lion cub turned to see Mako, there were a lot of tears coming down the cub's face.

"Are you okay, Bakari?" asked Mako, in a gentle tone.

"Uh-huh." he replied, with a sniffle.

Mako knew he wasn't okay and he just lets out a deep breath and he said, "You can always tell me what's bothering you."

Bakari wiped his tears away and tried to keep a straight face and replied, "Nothing's bothering me."

Mako knew this kid in a short period of time and he can tell that he's having trouble adjusting to a new environment, but he senses that there was something missing in his life and that he wants to know what that particular reason is and he said, "Are you sure?"

Bakari sniffled again and replied, "No."

Bakari immediately broke down crying and Mako could tell that whatever Bakari's keeping, he wants to know exactly what's going on with him and soon enough, Bakari said, "It's just not fair!"

Suddenly, Bakari went from sad to angry inside of him and Mako asked, "What's not fair?"

"Why does everyone have a family and I don't?" Bakari asked, with tears running down his face.

Mako widened his eyes to the fact that it's what's been bothering him a lot lately and he asked, "Why do you think that way?"

"Every year at the orphanage, I see a lot of kids being adopted by a bunch of families and I'm always the one that gets left behind. I always get left behind...like nobody wants me. Ever since my mom and dad abandoned me, I've been in every foster care from Africa to here in China. And I would get so sad and mad all the time like why am I not in a family? Why am I not wanted? And...does anyone love me?" Bakari answered, with tears running down his face.

That really killed Mako to see him in that light and he figured he was upset, but not like that. Bakari turned himself away to keep anyone from seeing his tears, but Mako reached out to him and told him, "Bakari...listen to me. I can't replace your parents, but I wanna do all that I can to make you feel like you belong somewhere. And you will be loved and you'll be in a family someday."

"Really?" asked Bakari.

"Of course. I believe you will be. From the bottom of my heart, you'll be in a home with a family that loves you and will care for you." Mako added.

Bakari could tell that he really meant that and it just made him feel like Mako could be the father he never had in his life before and he just lept up and hugged him tightly. Mako accepted the hug with no hesitation and Bakari just cried into his shoulder.

"I believe in you, Bakari." Mako whispered.

* * *

Bakari needs love, doesn't he? What will be the first thing you'd do? We've gots more coming up!


	18. When Jo Meets Max

And here's where Jo meets Max for the first time. Joe 'Po' Navark, this is for you!

* * *

Chapter 18: When Jo Meets Max

That afternoon, Max, Bakari, Duke and Isaiah were at the Jade Palace to hang out for a few hours and as the masters prepare for the Christmas Ball, Musaki and Arizona thought it was time to show off their outfits for the entire ball and almost immediately, Max walked towards the barracks with the orphans to see what Musaki and Arizona are up to.

"Wonder where they went?" asked Max, as he looked around in each door.

"Excuse me."

Max quickly turned around and sees a little badger standing there and he looked up at him and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name's Jo. Who are you?" asked Jo.

"Maximus, but everyone calls me Max. And these are my friends; Duke, Bakari and Isaiah." Max introduced.

"Hello." Jo replied, as he waved at them.

Duke looks up at Jo for a second and he said, "You look...weird."

Jo wasn't surprised by that immediate label when it comes to new people and he said, "I get that a lot."

Max rolled his eyes after Duke made that assuming label he gave to Jo and he told him, "I don't think you're weird. You're kinda...cool."

Now that part...Jo was definitely surprised to hear and he didn't expect that coming from a young white tiger cub and he said, "Thanks. How old are you?"

"8 and a half. But I'll be nine in a few months." Max said.

"I'm almost 15. I just came by to see Musaki. Is he here?" Jo asked.

"Um...I don't know. I was about to look for him." Max replied.

Before Jo even responded, Musaki came out of the room with that holiday outfit on and he said to himself, "I think I could get used to this."

Musaki turns around and he sees Max standing with Jo and he was actually surprised that he's standing here and said, "Hey, Jo. What brings you here?"

"I was actually coming in to say hi and see some of the masters here and to let them know that I'm coming to this event you guys are having." Jo replied.

"Do they know you're here?" asked Musaki.

"Not yet. I sorta came in past them." Jo added, in a nervous tone.

Suddenly, Arizona came out wearing a silver-grey vest with red and silver shorts and he looks at Musaki and Max and asked, "Well, how do I look?"

Musaki and Max were completely surprised by the outfit Arizona's wearing and from the looks of it, it was definitely elegant enough for this holiday occasion and Musaki said, "Very cool. I have a feeling the girls are gonna compete with you on this."

Arizona chuckled at this and he asked, "You don't think it's too...?"

"Nope. Just right." Musaki answered.

Max smiled in response to that and he said, "Yeah, big brother. It's awesome."

Arizona then looks up and sees Jo standing there and he said, "Hey, what's up? I'm Arizona."

"Jo."

Both of them shook hands and when he got down to his level, he said, "What brings you by here?"

"I always come for the holidays. Not to mention, to say hi to the masters real quick." Jo replied.

"Awesome, man." Arizona added.

Just then, Master Shifu comes along and when he sees Jo there, he was pleasantly surprised to actually see him and he said, "Jo, nice of you to stop by."

"Hello, Master Shifu. I just wanted to come by and say hi and to tell you that I'm going to that Christmas Ball you guys are having." Jo replied.

"Oh, it would definitely be an honor for you to come. We'd proceed you as our special guest." Shifu added.

That really surprised Jo the most when Shifu said that he's coming as a 'special guest', which kinda came as unexpected for him and he said, "I'm not worthy of being a special guest."

Shifu chuckles at that and he said, "Yes, you are."

Duke clears his throat in response and asked, "Why aren't we the special guests?"

Arizona then replied, "Are you a kung-fu master?"

"No."

Shifu smirks at Duke and replied, "There's your answer."

* * *

That was pretty cool! Now, next up...we dig a little info on Duke's past.


	19. Duke's Missing Piece

We get to see a side of Duke's no one's seen before. He puts on this tough guy act to hide the scars he's had in his past, regarding his memories of what happened to his parents. Who better than to help out than Max?

* * *

Chapter 19: Duke's Missing Piece

Following this evening, Duke was sitting all alone in Max's room, just laying there, looking at the ceiling for a while, just thinking about what it's like being in a family...although he has doubts about how long it might actually last because he's been switched from every foster home after the death of his parents and he felt like he was never loved or cared for his whole life and it really bugs him a lot.

Then, a flash of memory apepared when he reminisced the night he saw his parents get burned at that burning house and that was one memory that still tortured him to this day. It was that particular reason why he's always afraid of being a part of a family so he had to play the tough and troublemaking cub to sorta hide the feelings he's been having for so long.

Soon enough, Max comes in the room and he sees Duke just laying there and he wanted to see if he was okay and he said, "Hey, Duke."

Duke looks up and he sees Max coming in and that didn't pay him any attention as he turned away from him and Max could tell that there was something bothering him that he was keeping to himself. He hopped on the bed, much to the young wolfdog's annoyance.

Without looking at him, he asked, "Can you get out of here? I need to be alone."

Max seemed surprised to hear that Duke wanted him out...in his own room. He replied, "It's my room too."

"Your point?" asked Duke, with a little growl.

Max was taken aback by Duke's response and he asked, "What's your deal?"

"Nothing's the deal! I'm fine, all right?" Duke asked.

Max had to disagree with that and he knew that there was something bothering him and Duke wouldn't say what it is and Duke could tell that Max wasn't leaving and he asked, "You still here?"

"It's my room, Duke. I can do whatever I want in here." Max answered.

Duke figured that Max wasn't gonna leave him alone until he knows what's the deal and why he was so angry for some reason and he lets out a heavy groan and asked, "What's it gonna take for you to leave me alone?!"

"Just tell me what your problem is! I can help you." Max exclaimed.

"I...don't...need...your help!" Duke shouted, enunciating his words.

"With what?! You don't even know me!" Duke said, before walking away.

As Duke was walking out of Max's room, Max stood in front of the door, blocking Duke's way and that seemed to get on his nerves and Max said, 'There's a rule in this house...never walk away angry."

Duke didn't really care about that certain rule and he said, "Rules are for suckers. Now get out of my way."

"No. Not until you tell me what's wrong." Max said.

Duke growls angrily and annoyed-like that Max isn't giving up so easily and he couldn't take it in one minute and said, "Move."

Max stood where he was staying and wasn't gonna move for Duke's personal issue and that made the pup really furious and he said, "Move or I'll make you move."

"Go ahead. Do whatever you want, but I'm not giving up until I wanna know what's wrong." Max added.

That was the last straw for Duke as he pinned Max to the wall with his paws around his shoulders, snarling at him in a fierce tone and he said, "You should've listened to me!"

Max gets him off, but he wasn't done yet. He looked at him and said, "Duke...you can't run away from your problems. Trust me from experience. You need to attack this head-on."

"The one problem I already have is you! You just won't leave me alone!" Duke shouted.

Max disagrees with that and knew that there was something else happening inside of him that hurts him and he asked, "Can you at least tell me what's wrong with you?!"

"I've already told you! It's you! You're my problem! So why don't just shut up and leave me alone already?!" Duke screamed, this time with tears in his eyes.

As soon as Max sees the tears, he stopped himself and looked at his eyes as Duke's tears began to water up and he calms himself down after the first few tears were falling down from his face and Duke couldn't quite understand why Max is still here and asked, "What are you waiting for? Just get out of here!"

"You're crying." Max responded.

Duke then realized that Max quickly saw his tears coming out and he just hid them away from Max and he said, "You don't know anything."

Duke then places himself to the wall and just began crying and Max didn't know what to do, but he knows he's not gonna leave him alone...not at all. Max came closer to Duke and he said to him, "I'd understand."

Duke hated to admit that Max was right, because he wanted to keep those feelings to himself, but it looks as if it was a failed attempt and he had no other choice. Duke lowered his ears down and looks at Max for a second and asked, "Do you know what it's like to feel abandoned? To feel like no one wants you and no one likes you? Do you even know what that feels?"

Max took a minute to realize that he's been through some heavy stuff at a young age, much similar to what he's gone through, but in a completely different result. But he easily could relate to that and he replied, "Yeah, I do."

Duke didn't believe it and asked, "Since when?"

"I could tell you that my mom had hurt me and abandoned me with some savage wolves when I was five and I felt like I was never loved or needed by anyone. That feels really messed up to me." Max replied.

Duke rose his ears a little after hearing what Max just said and it was like he understood what it feels like and Duke blinked his eyes for a second and just lets out a sigh and said, "I did not know that. But at least you had a mom. My parents were burned to death when I was two. I'm seven years old and I had to deal with so many stuff. That's why I've always gotten in trouble at the orphanage and just fight...just to get attention."

"You know, you don't have to do that to get that kind of attention."

Just then, Mako comes in and kneels down to the boys and he looked up at Duke, in which the young cub replied, "I don't?"

"No. Everyone thinks you're a troublemaker, but really...you're just a kid that needs love. Just not in the right ways." Mako replied.

"So...I don't have to be bad?" asked Duke.

Mako chuckled softly and said, "In order to be in a family, you have to be a part of it and they'll always give you nothing but love, care, shelter and all the things you need."

Duke lets out a deep sigh and has always been afraid that he might get left behind or sent back again because of some painful experiences he had to endure. He then asked, "What do I have to do?"

"Just give them a chance and see what happens. But you have to be willing to give them a chance." Mako answered.

That sounds like something Duke will have to do in order to earn that love and trust and he looks at Mako and it sounds like he knows what he's definitely talking about and he said, "I'll try."

He then looks up at Max and he comes up to him and said, "I'm sorry for being a jerk to you, Max."

"It's okay." Max said, with a smile and he hugs Duke almost immediately. Though the white wolfdog didn't expect that to happen, he just melted into the hug and it was like something he's always wanted to have...including a big brother.

'I wish you were my big brother, Max.' Duke thought.

* * *

So...Max is getting into the whole big brother thing, huh? We've got more coming up soon!


	20. Asking Out

The day of the Jade Palace Christmas Ball and things can happen pretty soon...especially between Mako and Reiko.

* * *

Chapter 20: Asking Out

The next day, Mako was walking towards the village to work at the orphanage and though it was only a few days left until Christmas, he was looking forward to give something for Reiko and he was thinking about making this official, so he walked to Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop to get some breakfast and to his surprise, he saw Reiko...sitting at the table with her two oldest sons; Kango; 15 and Rico; 14 and he wanted to sit next to them and Reiko saw Mako coming in and he said, "Morning, Mako."

"Hey, Reiko, boys." Mako said, greeting them.

The two eldest panda boys waved back at them and Rico couldn't help but be excited to see Mako coming in and he said, "Hey, Mako. How you doing?"

"Pretty good. And yourself?" asked Mako.

Rico sighed and responded, "Doing okay, I guess."

Just then, Samurai comes in to their table, ready to order and he couldn't help but notice his dad sitting with his lady panda and her two oldest kids and he said, "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Hello, son." Mako said.

Samurai sighed amusedly at this and he said, "So...what can I get you?"

Reiko started off first and she said, "I'd like to start off with 3 noodles and dumplings. And make Kango's Dragon Warrior sized."

Samurai whistled in response to that and he asked, "You sure you can handle a Dragon Warrior sized dumpling?"

Kango smirks at the fact that Samurai's skeptical about eating a Dragon Warrior sized dumpling and replied, "Why not?"

Samurai written it down on the order notebook and then, turns to his dad and asked, "What would you have?"

"Just the same, only make my dumplings a medium." Mako replied.

Samurai written that down already and he said, "All right, your order will be right up as soon as possible."

"Thank you."

After that, Kango looks up at Mako and he asked him, "How are your kids doing?"

Mako lets out an exhale and replied to Kango, "When you have 30-plus kids, how do you think it's going? A little chaotic, but things are toned down...at least for the holidays."

Reiko chuckled in response to that and she asked, "Do you think the kids need a mother?"

"Yes, they do. I'm hoping that they'll get used to one. My kids are pretty much used to you and your kids and they love having you around." Mako responded.

Reiko blushed in response and she's flattered by that comment and said, "Well, thank you. How are the three orphans doing?"

"They're doing pretty well. Haven't caused me any problems whatsoever." Mako answered.

Rico then blurted out, "Why don't you guys get married?"

Mako dropped his jaw in response to Rico's answer and Reiko blushed at this and both of them were a little skeptical about jumping through this moment immediately, but both of them knew that it would be nice to blend in as an extended family, but wasn't sure if the house would be big enough for them.

"Well...I don't know yet." Reiko replied.

"That's a little too soon, don't you think?" asked Mako, blushing.

Kango didn't see it that way and of course they're meant to be together and he said, "You guys are meant for each other. Our mom's a single mom and you're a single dad, so..."

Samurai then clears his throat and said, "No marriage talk when there's food here."

He then passes down their orders to the table and after they thanked Samurai, they started eating and before they knew it, in comes Master Shifu heading to their table and he said, "Hello, Mako."

"Good morning, Master Shifu." Mako replied, with his mouth full.

Mako then swallowed his food doqn quickly after he saw the reaction on Shifu's face when he was speaking with food in his mouth and he said, "Sorry about that."

"What have you got planned for tonight?" asked Shifu.

Mako then thought about it for a second and didn't really have anything planned and answered, "Not really?"

"You know about our annual Christmas Ball at the Jade Palace, correct?" asked Shifu.

That's where it hit him...the Christmas Ball. He then turned to Shifu and replied, "Yeah, I've heard."

Shifu then hands Mako two invitations to the Ball and after Mako looks up at them, he said, "We start tonight at 6:30. Couples can come too."

That thought immediately popped into Mako's head when he was thinking about him and Reiko together at that ball together and he knew that he was gonna ask her out to that event somehow and he turned to Shifu and said, "Thank you, Master. By the way, how's my nephew and my wolf son doing?"

"Musaki and Arizona? Just fine. I'll give them my regards to you." Shifu replied, with a smile.

Mako smiled back as well and he said, "You're well on your way of becoming a Bushido-Akio."

After Shifu walks off, Reiko looks at the invitations Mako got on his hand and she asked, "So...are you going?"

"Are you?" asked Mako.

Reiko clears her throat and answered, "I was kinda thinking the same thing."

Mako knew that there was gonna be no turning back on this and he gives the invitation to Reiko and asked, "Would you like to attend the ball with me?"

Reiko widened her eyes and she looked at Mako in the eyes and replied, "Yes, I would."

That really made him excited, as well as Rico and Kango to see that they're gonna go together and Mako said, "That's great."

Samurai looks over at his dad and figured that these two are gonna have some fun with each other on the holidays and he whispered, "Thank you, Master Shifu."

* * *

Whoa...that was awesome! The Christmas Ball is coming up!


	21. The Night of the Christmas Ball

Well...here it is! The Jade Palace Christmas Ball. Not much like the Winter Feast, but it's awesome.

* * *

Chapter 21: The Night of the Christmas Ball

Later that day at the Jade Palace, the masters are gathering some last-minute preparations for the holiday event; gathering the food, musicians, decorations and making sure it's all spiffy for tonight and Shifu wanted to make sure everything goes according to plan and that it'll be pulled off without a single hitch.

Meanwhile, Musaki gets himself ready for the ball and this is very first time being a part of something that's outside of what he's used to and after freshing up, he puts on his holiday outfit and as he looked in the mirror, he definitely knew he saw someone different...and never thought that he was that good-looking.

"Well...that looks exactly like me. I hope that this ball is worth it." Musaki added.

"It already is."

Musaki turns around and by his surprise, he saw his girlfriend Summer walking in his room and so many feelings came into mind as he looked at her with her grey and red dress and he knew he had saw something beautiful standing right in front of him and he could not keep his eyes off of it. He said, "Hey, Summer. What brings you here?"

Summer comes towards him, a little shy and she replied, "I heard that you're having a Christmas Ball here and I thought that I might be able to come in and attend. And also come to dance with you."

So many awkwardness have come in between the two of them and Musaki was a little bit shy, but when he looked at her in the eyes, he could not turn away from the most beautiful sight he's ever seen and Summer said, "You don't think it's...too much, do you?"

"Too much what?" asked Musaki.

He quickly realized that she was talking about her dress and he saw absoultely nothing wrong with it and he replied, "No, it's great. Not too much at all."

Summer quickly lets out a little giggle and her confidence almost boosted up a little and asked, "You think it's perfect?"

"I know it is. But there's one more thing missing." Musaki added.

Just then, he quickly brought in a rose and he gently placed it over her head and with once it was set it, Musaki then said, "Now it's perfect."

"I thought you didn't care about perfection." Summer stated.

Musaki lets out a smile and he said, "I still don't. But I meant this moment with you and me...definitely perfect. You don't have to change anything about yourself nor who you are to have my approval. You being beautiful the way you are...it's enough for me."

Summer smiled at that and placed her arms around him and as their lips were about to come in contact, in comes Po bursting in the room and he sees both of them together and he comes in saying, "Lil' Saki! I knew you had a way with the ladies!"

Musaki lets out a scoff at this and all Summer did was say, "Hi, Po."

"Hey, Summer. We're about to start in a few minutes. Now, Musaki...behave yourself and don't get caught in the mating game." Po said, in a sly tone.

"Po..." Musaki said, in an embarrassed tone.

Po immediately got out of the room, leaving the teenage panda couples still standing there and Musaki rolled his eyes at that and he said, "Don't pay him any attention. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"How do you deal with him?" asked Summer.

"Beats me."

Soon enough, Musaki opens the door and he gladly escorts Summer on his way to the Hall of Heroes to enjoy the best Christmas Ball ever and with their arms around each other, nothing could make this any less perfect.

Meanwhile, Arizona was getting prepped up for the event and as he puts on his holiday outfit, he knows he looks dressed for the occasion, but is still a little shy because he had no experiences on dancing with a girl and he groomed his fur and spiky hair to make sure he would look perfect instead of looking like a scruffy canine.

"Hi, Arizona."

Just then, Arizona turns around and sees Sierra, wearing a red and silver dress, in which gleams from the sight of the moon and Arizona widened his eyes to see how beautiful it looks for the first time and his heart began to beat a million miles per minute, palms are getting sweaty and all of those feelings he had were easily coming out of him. He walks over to her and he said, "Sierra...you look...really beautiful."

Sierra smiled at that and she told him, as she's looking at his outfit and said, "You don't look bad yourself."

"Um...thanks." Arizona said, scratching the back of his ear.

The grey wolf was definitely feeling smitten by his mate's beauty and Sierra said to him, "When I found out that the Jade Palace was having a Christmas Ball, I definitely wanted to surprise you. Because it's my three favorite things in the world; Christmas, dancing and to add it all...you."

Arizona was definitely blushing at that and he definitely felt awkward but it was a sweet awkward to go with it and he said, "It is?"

"Yes. I'm not overdoing this dress, am I?" asked Sierra.

Arizona examined her and he found absolutely nothing wrong with it and he said, "No, it's beautiful to me already."

Now it was Sierra's turn to be blushed back and she was definitely shy about how she would be complimented as and Arizona definitely gave her the biggest one of all. She then responded, "Thank you. I didn't really think that I would come here looking like I just rolled out of my closet to find it and hopefully to gain your approval of it and..."

She was soon cut off by Arizona's finger in her lip and he said, "No really, it is beautiful. I couldn't think of anyone else to be seen with other than you."

Sierra and Arizona were gazing at each other's eyes for a second and as they got closer, they started kissing together in the lips and overtime, it was a very passionate kiss that seemed to last a little while. After they broke off for some air, they looked at each other with a 'did that just happen' moment and they were chuckling nervously.

"I guess we should...get to the..." Arizona stammered.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Sierra added.

Both of them were about to head for the door and Sierra accidently bumped into Arizona, just giggling nervously and said, "Sorry about that."

"No, you first." Arizona said.

They both ended up walking together on the way to the Hall of Heroes, paw in paw and Arizona was completely enchanted to have the honor of having his girlfriend to the ball.

* * *

Hope that kiss wasn't too...much for ya! The full ball is coming up! Merry Christmas to everyone!


	22. The Best Holiday Ball

Here is the Holiday Ball at the Jade Palace!

* * *

Chapter 22: The Best Holiday Ball

Around that same evening, Mako was getting ready for the Christmas Ball as well and came downstairs wearing his best holiday attire; a dark-green vest with silver pants and a grey cape with a straw hat on his head and soon enough, it garnered attention from Cody and Samurai as they saw their dad looking spiffy for their date. Cody chuckled softly and said, "Whoa...don't you look awesome!"

"Yeah, dad. A lot of girls will be fighting you off for that." Samurai added, with a little elbow touch.

Mako rolled his eyes at that comment and he told them, "Reiko is the one for me. We're just gonna go out and have a little fun. Now, her kids are coming over here and Cody, I'm putting you, Samurai and Tsunami in charge until we get back. Oh, and make sure Logan and Sage don't get themselves in any trouble."

"You blew it!" Logan shouted.

"Have not!" Sage shouted back.

"Oh, right! Like you played fair and square! I beat you and you know it!"

"How would you like for me to shove those words up your butt?!"

Cody clears his throat and he said, "I got this, dad."

As Cody comes in to assess the situation, Max comes downstairs and he said, "Dad, Logan and Sage are arguing again."

Samurai comes over to Max's level and he said, "Cody's got this. We all know what he does when these two are at it."

"Both of you shut up and get your tails to bed already! Otherwise, you'll get the bucket!" Cody shouted.

Before long, silence came in between the two of them and they shut themselves up and as Cody came downstairs and he said, "Crisis adverted."

Then, a knock comes at the door and when Cody answered it, in comes Reiko and her kids and Mako could not believe that Reiko is wearing something this beautiful and elegant for this holiday event to attend to. He said to her, "Wow...you look very excellent."

"Thanks. And you look handsome." Reiko said, looking at his outfit.

"Why thank you. We better get going." Mako added.

Reiko then looks at her kids and she told them, "Now, you be good while we're gone, okay? And be on your best behavior. That means you, Zacharias."

The little seven year old panda cub looks at his mother and gives out his sad face look to give in to his wants and Reiko told him, "Nice try."

Cody could relate to that particular look so easily and he said, "Most of my youngest brothers do it when they were younger. We'll be sure to handle everything here."

"Don't stay out too late now." Samurai added.

As Mako and Reiko stepped out of the house, they were completely excited to go to the Jade Palace to attend the Christmas Ball and on the way there, they see every kung-fu master imaginable on their way to the palace. Reiko said, "Must be a kung-fu event."

At the Jade Palace

The entire Hall of Heroes has been decked into dining side and a dance side on some degree and it was all made of Christmas-y stuff and very elegant. Shifu looks at everything that's been set aside and he could not imagine a much more perfect addition to how it looks. As the number of kung-fu masters and different couples come along, it was time to get it started.

All the attention has been turned to Master Shifu as he welcomes everyone in this gathering and said, "Fellow kung-fu masters and students and couples in different walks of life...welcome to the annual Jade Palace Christmas Ball. I know it's days until Christmas, so we have decided to make this officially possible and with the help of my students...the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior, we're all able to make this really possible."

Soon enough, everyone was treated to an amazing feast with a huge array of food that's been made by not only the Dragon Warrior, but to all of the best chefs in China that brings in every diverse amount of food that's ever prepared and served. Po knows that he'll never get enough of what they got and wanted to get his hands on it, but Tigress swatted his hand as a way to prevent him from stuffing his face with more food.

"Don't even think about it." Tigress said.

"You're a scrooge." Po muttered.

Mako and Reiko were completely treated to an amazing feast and they could not imagine anything else that's more perfect and completely mesmerizing than that and as they ate the food, both of their taste buds were hyped up in excitement and surprise as they have never tasted anything like that before.

"This is severely excellent." Reiko said, in awe.

Mako smiled back and said, "They must've done a phenomenal job at it."

Musaki couldn't agree more as he ate some of it and he said, "I'll say. I personally love the Mongolian Stir-Fry vegetables. And honestly, it's a lot better than that crappy stir-fry tofu."

Tigress took that as a deep offense after Musaki called stir-fry tofu crappy and she lets out a small growl at that, but decided to keep that to herself because she wasn't gonna risk losing her cool in an event like this.

Jo was taking it all in and he never saw himself participating an event like this and Musaki looks up at Jo and asked, "Is this cool or what?"

"I gotta say this is actually the first time I've ever been in something like this." Jo said, with a chuckle.

"Well...it only gets better."

After the dinner, Shifu announced that the dancing will commence and as the couples group went in and bowed to their partners, the musicians started playing some folk music and everyone began dancing to it. Musaki and Summer bowed to each other as they began dancing with each other and nervousness was sinking in between the two of them, but as Musaki took the lead, all nervousness went away so quickly and just focused on what would be the best memory to remember.

"You're one heck of a dancer, Musaki." Sierra said.

Musaki smiled at that as they spun around and he said, "I've waited for moments like this. And I guess it's worth waiting."

"And the best part...is that you're with me." Summer said, smiling.

Arizona and Sierra began slow-dancing with each other and Arizona's heart was skipping a beat each time he moves and he hopes that it wouldn't be messed up and Sierra figured that he was a little anxious about dancing with a girl and just by looking into Sierra's eyes...it sorta gave him the confidence boost he needed to dance with her and as the music swells, they danced all around and soon enough, the spotlight shone above the two wolves as they went around and around, capturing everyone's attention.

Arizona didn't focus on how many people are watching because the only person he saw was Sierra, standing in front of him dancing like there was no one around. Sierra then said, "You know, you're pretty light on your feet."

"I try not to step on yours." Arizona added.

Sierra giggled softly at Arizona's response and she told him, "You're goofy, Arizona. But you're my goofy mate."

Arizona chuckled at that and wasn't sure if that was compliment or whatever, but he'll take it in every way he goes. Being with her made him feel really comfortable with himself and as Sierra planted her head on Arizona's chest, he felt completely warm inside.

Jo was a little nervous dancing with a certain girl badger because he has no idea what it should be like, but as soon as they began dancing, he started to get into it a little bit and the girl asked, "You enjoying yourself so far?"

"I think so. Not many people would dance with someone like me." Jo answered.

She was surprised when he made that answer and asked, "Why wouldn't they?"

"Because I'm different from others."

She could actually agree on what he was saying but just looking at him made her see something else...something that he never expected to see. She told him, "You're really unique."

"I am?"

"Yeah, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you because you have something that others don't have...your uniqueness." she replied.

It sorta made Jo feel very empowered to know that what makes him different makes him very unique and it really resonated with him a lot and he lets out a smile and said, "I always felt that no one would get me at all, but I guess it makes me who I am."

"Just embrace who you are and not what others expect you to be."

Jo nods his head in agreement and said, "I'll keep that in mind."

Meanwhile, Mako and Reiko were dancing with each other and they definitely felt like they're meant to be an ideal couple, even on the holiday season. Mako looked at her in the eyes and Reiko did the same and both of them were lost in each other's gazes as they loved being around each other.

"I couldn't imagine anywhere else I'd rather be than with you." Reiko said.

"I feel the same way." Mako added.

Both pandas were definitely in love with each other and with every move they made, both of their hearts skip a beat and Mako looks up and sees both Musaki and Arizona dancing with their dates and he definitely felt happy for them and Reiko looks at them and she said, "To be young and in love."

"I couldn't agree more...especially in the holiday season." Mako added.

Both of them locked their eyes to each other and they began kissing each other in the lips and continued on dancing. Same goes for Arizona and Musaki as their dates as they were having the time of their lives.

Shifu looked on and he lets out a happy sigh and replied, "Now this...is perfect."

* * *

From one awesome event to another...Merry Christmas everyone!


	23. Noodle Feast Date

We see Mako and Reiko along with the the kids attending the Noodle Feast.

* * *

Chapter 23: Noodle Feast Date

The following evening, Mako and the rest of the clan...the three orphans included went over to the Noodle Shop to attend the Winter Feast along with Reiko and her kids in tow and they were most definitely surprised that there were crowds of people there, just enjoying noodles for the holidays. Samurai comes along with a tray full of noodles to give out to everyone and he definitelty served the entire family some bowls and also Reiko's clan too.

"Happy feast, guys!" Samurai exclaimed, happily.

Mako chuckled at that and said, "The same to you as well, son."

Soon enough, Po and Mr. Ping passed around more noodles for everyone and they were overjoyed when the Five, Master Shifu, Arizona, Musaki and Jo came forward along with Zeke to take in on this holiday feast. Jo felt completely surprised to see how it actually looks like and is a little curious that Po chips in every holiday and he said to Shifu, "How many times have you attended this?"

"Since Po left in the middle of our Jade Palace Winter Feast when he first hosted it. But after coming to see what the fuss is all about, I now understood why he did it." Shifu replied.

"Bet you were hungry then." Arizona added.

Shifu looked up at Arizona after making that comment and he said, "We're getting off the subject."

Mr. Ping walked over towards them and he said, "Welcome to our Noodle Feast."

"It is good to be here again, Mr. Ping." Shifu said, bowing to him.

All of them grabbed a bowl of noodles and proceeded to enjoy themselves...especially Crane and Monkey when they saw Po's Uncle Yang laughing so hard that noodles spurt out of his nose and that definitely became enjoyable for them to see and Crane said, "I am officially coming here every year."

"Me too." Monkey added.

Meanwhile, Musaki and Zeke walked over with their bowls of noodles to sit with Uncle Mako and his cousins and when they came around, Mako looks over and he said, "Musaki! Zeke! So good to see you boys!"

Both of them sat down and Musaki replied, "Great to see you, unc."

"Yeah, same here. It's been a long time last I've seen you guys." Zeke replied.

Cody chuckled at this and he asked Zeke, "How's life at Shanghai Secluded Valley?"

Zeke lets out a deep sigh and he turns to Cody and answered, "Pretty awesome. You know, I've gotten used to life around there and I've taken up some mixed martial arts and jinjitsu. It's not like kung-fu, but I've gotten better at it."

Hearing this excited Musaki a lot and he couldn't be more happier for Zeke after hearing some good things coming out of him and he said, "That's awesome, Zeke. I'm really proud of you, bro."

"Yeah, the only downside is not seeing you by my side." Zeke added.

Musaki couldn't help but agree what he said and he knows he would love more than anything to live in Shanghai Secluded Valley so that he and Zeke will always stick together for the remainder of their time as well as seeing his relatives everyday and Mako said, "Hey, we will always support your decision."

"I guess you're right." Musaki replied.

Reiko lets out a smile as she looks at Musaki and told him, "Just go wherever your heart tells you to go. The masters will respect your decision."

"Thanks. I believe you and Mako are meant to be." Musaki added.

"Why, thank you." Reiko said, with a blush.

And to Musaki's surprise, he sees two of his best friends come by; Jo and Ichi coming inside the Noodle Feast and he waved at them to let them know they're here and they quickly got to their table and Jo said, "Hey, Musaki!"

"Jo! Ichi! My best buds!" Musaki said, coming over to give them a hug.

Ichi smiles at Musaki and he said, "It's so good to be here. I just saw Shifu and the others at another table and I couldn't resist saying hi to them."

It was really amazing to see them come over and as they sat down and introduced themselves, Musaki looks up at Jo and he asked, "How'd you enjoy the Christmas Ball?"

"It was the best event I've ever attended at the Jade Palace. Although...that ice sculpture of that dragon freaked me out." Jo said, with a chuckle.

Ichi then turns to Jo and asked, "You were at a Christmas Ball at the Jade Palace? Why wasn't I invited?"

Musaki then asked them, "How'd you guys meet?"

"It was really quick. I was making my way to the Noodle Shop anyway and he might've seen me making my way there and had asked me for a ride. I didn't really know if I wanted to, but he was kind enough to let me ride on his back." Jo replied.

Ichi chuckled at this and he said, "The spirit of the holidays is getting used to me. So...I figured he might've needed a ride to get there."

"Thanks, Ichi. You're pretty cool." Jo said.

"Thanks, you too."

Just then, Arizona comes to the table and sat between Max and Isaiah and he asked, "Mind if I sit here with you guys?"

"We saved it for you." Max said, happily.

Arizona smiled in response and felt complete excitement and happiness that he's sitting with his young best buds and in the holiday season, nothing could be more awesome than family. Bakari, Isaiah and Duke looks around and sees all of them sitting together like one big happy family...tthe ones they've always dreamt about.

* * *

Thought that Jo and Ichi would get an appearance. Hope Joe 'Po' Navark and Wonder Panda Tan-Tan are cool with this! Stick around for more!


	24. Officially Adopted

We have one more little matter to take care of for the three orphans!

* * *

Chapter 24: Officially Adopted

A few days have passed by and it's Christmas Eve and while everyone in the Valley of Peace is getting ready for Christmas, Mako was on his way to the orphanage to do some last minute surprises of his own...staying true to his word. Just then, in comes Arizona walking in and the grey wolf said, "Hey, Mako. How's it going?"

Mako looks at Arizona and replied, "So far, so good. I'm heading to the orphanage."

"What for?" asked Arizona.

Mako then whispers in Arizona's ear, "I'm gonna sign the adoption papers between Bakari, Isaiah and Duke."

Arizona was bursting with shock, but also happiness for Max that he's finally gonna be a big brother and he said, "That's awesome! Max is growing up, isn't he?"

"Yep. Just these past couple of days, I've seen him bonding more with these boys and they're learning a lot from him. I really believe that he has got what it takes to be a big brother." Mako added.

Arizona figured that he was doing something right to teach Max everything and for him to know that Max will be a good older sibling, he couldn't feel any less proud than anything. He chuckled softly and said, "You know, I've never really had a little brother of my own and I've never knew what it would feel like and...after Max, it's like I've transformed into something I never thought would be possible. Just to be there for this little tiger cub...it's undescribable."

Mako then smiled at Arizona and said, "I have you to thank. You are now a Bushido-Akio at heart...but you'r officially becoming one."

"Thanks, Mako. Merry Christmas." Arizona said, as he walks out.

Just then, Mako stopped him for a second and he said to him, "I'm also thinking of adding Reiko into the family too."

Arizona was a little surprised by it, but he quickly understood what that meant and he lets out a smile and said, "Good luck."

Mako may need all the luck he can get, but first he has to do one single deed to make.

As soon as he got to the orphanage with the boys, he told them to wait outside for them for a second and most of them felt like they might be placed back there after spending a couple of days at Max's place and Duke lets out a deep sigh and said, "I knew this was coming."

But they were both unaware that Mako wants to adopt them and take them in his home and when he went to Ms. Faye's room, he said, "Happy holidays."

Ms. Faye turns around and sees Mako in front of him and she happily said, "Mako! Happy holidays to you too."

He smiled at this and she quickly asked, "Are the boys here?"

"Uh-huh."

Not long after, she brought in the adoption papers for all three boys and Mako couldn't be more surprised to see it coming so quickly and Ms. Faye asked, "How did Max do on being a big brother to them?"

"Really well. I never thought he'd be doing very good at it, but he did. Max surprises me at times." Mako replied.

"That's very good to hear. I believe Max will make an excellent brother and that these boys are finally gonna have a home for Christmas." Ms. Faye said, happily.

She then hands the pen over to Mako and without any sign of hesitation, read and signed the adoption forms of all three of them and after that...Ms. Faye approved it and said, "Take very good care of these boys...especially Duke."

"I will. And thank you." Mako said, with a grateful smile.

"And a very Merry Christmas to you."

"Same as you."

As he came out, he looks at all three boys and with a smile, he said, "Come on guys...let's go back home."

As soon as they heard 'home', they knew they were going back to Mako's place and they happily hugged Mako and their joy has been skyrocketed...hundredfold. Mako then said to them, "We're gonna surprise Max on Christmas morning. Don't let him know yet."

"Our lips are sealed...dad." Isaiah said, with a smile.

* * *

This is gonna be good! On the next chapter, Max is getting his present!


	25. Christmas Wish Comes True

And here's where we wrap this up!

* * *

Chapter 25: Christmas Wish Comes True

It's finally here...the moment that everyone's been waiting for; for it is Christmas Day. Early Christmas morning, Max slowly wakes himself up and he scratched the back of his head and lets out a loud yawn and a small mewl to go along with it. By the time his eyes were opened up, he whispered, "It's Christmas morning."

Max looks around and sees three empty beds surrounding him and that's when he knew that Isaiah, Duke and Bakari were not there. He quickly got out of bed and looked under the beds and parts of his room to find them, but no one was there. He then sprinted out of the room to find them and when he got to the living room, he sees Mako standing there in front of the Christmas tree.

But...he looks up and sees the three standing there, each of them with a christmas bow on their heads and his jaw dropped in complete shock and that's when it hit him...

"Merry Christmas, Max." Mako said, with a smile.

Bakari, Isaiah and Duke were looking at Max and as they smiled at him, Isaiah came towards Max, still in shock and hands him all three adoption papers and as Max looks at them, his eyes widened up and looks up at the tree of them and he was definitely happy that he got his wish...

Max is officially a big brother.

"You wanted a little brother and now you've got three little brothers of your own." Mako explained.

Max lets out an excited cheer and just went completely crazy as he hugged Bakari, Isaiah and Duke and then hugged all of his siblings and his dad and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Mako chuckled softly as he pats Max in the back and he was happy to see Max happy about this and he looks up at his new brothers and went over to them and said, "We're gonna have some fun with each other. But I promise that I will try my best to be a good big brother."

Isaiah went over to Max and he said to him, "You already are to us. All of our lives, we've always thought that our chances of having a family and a home were short. But we had always hoped that we'd find a place that we can call home. And we definitely found it here."

Bakari walked besides Max and he said, "You're not only our friend, but our brother. And we had always hoped that we'd have a brother."

"Yeah, what they said. I'm not really one for sappy stuff, but I'm really glad that we're finally home." Duke said.

Max smiled at that and he knew that this would be the best Christmas ever and brought them in for a group hug and Max's heart couldn't be any more fuller than ever before. Samurai chuckled at this and said, "Welcome home, guys. Now let's open some presents!"

The clan was most definitely looking forward to the best part of that day; opening a huge load of presents that they all got and for the three orphans, the biggest present they ever had is the fact that they finally have a place that they can call home and with a bigger family by their corner. Max looks at all three of them and smiled at them as did the three that smiled back at him.

Later that morning, the entire clan went to the Jade Palace to celebrate Christmas with them and as they entered in, the masters were completely happy to see them come in and Master Shifu was the first one to tell them, "Merry Christmas to all of you."

"The same to you, Master Shifu." Mako said, bowing to them.

Musaki and Arizona came in and greeted them as well and Max was definitely happy to tell the two, "I'm now a big brother."

Bakari, Isaiah and Duke came from behind Max and both Musaki and Arizona could tell that they were most definitely happy that they're a part of the family now and Musaki said, "Hey, guys. How does it feel to finally be in a new family?"

"It feels great!" Isaiah replied, with joy.

"We've waited all our lives for this and now it's finally coming true." Bakari agreed, happily.

Arizona got down on the levels and said, "It'll be really awesome for me to be your wolf brother and just as I've been an awesome big brother to Max, I'm confident that he'll be there for you for whatever you need."

"We know he will." Duke added.

Soon enough, in comes Zeke, Jo, Ichi and their good friends; the Elemental Hazards to take part in this Christmas celebration and Musaki said, "What's up, guys?"

Takami chuckled and said, "Merry Christmas, you guys."

"You guys know you can't have it without us." Ryo added, with a smile.

Skyler nods her head and then said to Ryo, "You mean, not without food."

"Must you be a scrooge?" asked Ryo, mocking her back.

Takami sighed at this to see both of them bickering again and he said, "Must we really do this now? Especially on Christmas Day?"

Soon enough, Faith, Hope, Kaizer, Layla, Tamaki, Kovu, Borko, Kiba, Chronos and Zack came together and united with their friends to join in the Christmas spirit with them and there were lots of cheers and hugs coming in and as they meet each other, Musaki, Arizona, Max and his new brothers got in on the action as well. Jo, Ichi and the Hazards were definitely surprised to hear that Max is a big brother now and they cheered for him.

"Congratulations, Max." Faith said, happily.

"Hard to believe you're actually growing up, kid." Kaizer said, rubbing his head.

Jo comes over to Max and he said, "I'm happy for you, Max. I wish all the best of luck to you."

"Same as me." Ichi said, with a smile.

Max lets out a smile at both of them and he said, "Thanks, guys."

Kiba was the most excited about it and he said, "Bet you're gonna prank them, huh? If you need any tips, you know I got your back."

Max chuckled at this and he said, "Thanks, but not anytime soon."

"That's right, Kiba. He has to be the good brother right now. So no definitely no pranks." Arizona agreed.

However, Max quickly whispered into Kiba's ear, saying, "Leave me some ideas just in case."

Kiba quickly nodded in agreement and just then, Master Shifu called in everyone to come together and with the rest of the gang together, Max placed himself beside Bakari, Isaiah and Duke as they gathered around for a drawing picture.

The artist drew the picture with everyone together and they all exclaimed, "Merry Christmas!"

For Max, it was definitely a Christmas he will definitely remember for the rest of his life.

* * *

Well, that's pretty much the ending of this story! Or is it...?


	26. Bonus Chapter: Added Member

This is a little thank you for all those who read and reviewed this story! This came out of my head as an added bonus at the end of this story between Mako and Reiko.

* * *

Bonus: Added Member

Couple of minutes later, Reiko and her kids came in the Jade Palace to join in on the festivities and she was definitely happy to see Mako and when she came behind him, she tapped him on the shoulder and by the second Mako turned around, he was thrilled to see her and said, "Reiko, Merry Christmas!"

"You too, my sweet." Reiko said, smiling.

The two shared glances with each other and for Mako, it was definitely a great time in his life to share this moment and soon enough, he brought in everyone's attention...much to Reiko's surprise and she looked at him and asked, "Sweetie, what's going on?"

Mako looked at her in the eye and told her, "Reiko...from the moment that we met each other, it was like our souls were a perfect match and I felt it. I felt it deep in my heart that you're the only one for me and I want to spend those precious moments with you and in some way...bring my family and your family together."

Reiko was taken aback by all of those things that Mako had said and she completely felt the same way. She knew that both her and Mako were a match when it comes to kids and families and she said, "I definitely agree. That's why I love you so much."

"So much so...that I am willing to spend the rest of my life with you and I want to be a part of your kids' lives." Mako added.

That really surprised Reiko the most and she didn't expect this to happen and she asked, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

He then kneeled himself down on one knee and showed her a ring and then grabbed both of her paws and asked, "Reiko...will you marry me?"

Musaki and Arizona's jaws were dropped as soon as that happened and Max was completely happy to hear this and the same went for Reiko's kids and they were all excited and anxious to hear her response to this. Reiko's eyes welled up with tears and she said, "Oh, Mako...this is so..."

She was definitely speechless, but she had never met a man like Mako in her life and she's definitely that person that her kids need to be around and then, after taking a moment to catch her breath, she then replied, "Yes. Yes, I will marry you."

Everyone in the Jade Palace cheered for them as Mako stood up and hugged her tightly and kissed her and he felt really excited to know that he's gonna marry Reiko and from that moment, all of Mako's kids and Reiko's kids came together to hug each other in celebrating it. The rest of the masters couldn't be any more proud and happy for the two. Even Po started crying hysterically and felt so happy about this that he blew his nose towards Tigress' tail...which he figured was a wrong move.

"Sorry. I've never been so happy in my life." Po said, sobbing.

Thought Tigress didn't fully appreciate getting her tail filled with Po's boogers, she wished nothing but the best for Mako and Reiko and all the good luck they'll receive. Musaki and Arizona immediately came towards the couple and hugged them tightly. Musaki said, "This is definitely the best news I've heard."

"Yeah, you're gonna have a new aunt." Mako said.

He then came towards Reiko and he said, "Congratulations to you guys."

"Thank you, Musaki." Reiko said, with a smile.

Shifu couldn't help but feel happy that this was happening and he said to the couple, "I wish you both nothing but happiness."

Jo and Ichi couldn't believe that this was happening and Ichi was on the verge of tears and Jo looks up and asked, "You okay, Ichi?"

"Yeah...just had something in my eye." Ichi said, tearfully.

Kiba was also in tears after witnessing th proposal and just wept like a little baby and cried through Ryo's shoulders and said, "I wish I had a girlfriend to see this."

Ryo looked over at Kiba and motioned him to get off before he could beat the holiday cheer out of him and Kiba quickly got off and said, "Sorry. Just got a little emotional here."

"Well...this is one Christmas moment that we'll never forget." Shifu finished.

* * *

And that's really a wrap! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited this fic! Hope you had a Happy Holiday! And Joe 'Po' Navark, glad you enjoyed! I'm gonna make some awesome new fanfics for 2013!


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